


Fantastic Beasts and How it could have been.

by Hellodie



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Auror Training, Awkward Flirting, F/M, Falling In Love, Jealousy, Love Confessions, Magizoology (Harry Potter), N.E.W.T.s | Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests, Protective Queenie Goldstein, Tournaments, Young Love, Young Newt Scamander
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-03
Updated: 2019-11-07
Packaged: 2020-02-16 19:40:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 27,650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18697918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hellodie/pseuds/Hellodie
Summary: Another timeline in which Tina and Newt actually met in school during an event : the Ilvermorny students came in Hogwarts for a very famous and also dangerous tournament. They'll have to learn knowing each other to defeat the obstacle arising on their way to their dream. Though, it wasn't love at first sight or was it ? The rating might change.





	1. Meeting the Ilvermony students.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey. It's me (again). So, this is the new story I was talking about in London's cases. I might alternate between the two from now. I hope you'll like it. You might want to read it listening to the soundtracks of the 4th movie (also the first). Tina is not confident, Queenie is already a sweety and Newt is already socially awkward than his grown up version but it's because he's young (17-18 while Tina is 14, following their date of birth). Have a good read hopefully. HW.

1915 - into the Hogwarts Express.

Newt Scamander, a young reddish brown boy, was sitting alone in a stall while staring outside the window with a dreamy look. Already wearing his Hufflepuff dress, he was thinking about the incoming year and what lesson he should take for his N.E.W.T final to became a Magizoologist, his dearest wish. Absorbed by his thought, he didn't noticed a petite and pretty Slytherin girl silently entering and sitting in the front pew.

"Hi Newt !" She smiled at him, making him jumped in surprise, "how did your holiday went ?"

"Leta, sorry I didn't saw you coming", he apologised, "Quite well I guess. I studied a lot though, Theseus agreed to help me with some subject."

"Oh," Leta blushed at the mention of Newt's brother, "how is he doing ?"

"Good, the Ministry is satisfied with his working, he told us, so he'll be integrated in an Auror team by the end of the year. How did your holidays went ?"

Leta rolled her eyes but replied anyway, telling him it was as usual: her father ignoring her, having eyes only for her little brother and all. She shrugged as if it was nothing even if she still suffered from it. She decided to change the subject instead.

"Did you hear about the rumors ?" She asked with an excited tone.

"What rumors ?"

"C'mon Newt ! Everyone is currently talking about it !" She watched him with disbelief before carrying on, "Apparently, the Ilvermorny students are coming this year for an exchange stuff or something like that."

"Oh." Newt didn't seemed as thrilled as his friend by the news, to say the least.

"That's all ? Aren't you more curious about them ?"

"They're just others humans being Leta. I don't see why I should be." Newt replied bluntly, resuming his staring of the outside of the train.

"You're a real kill joy sometimes, you know that ?" She huffed with annoyance but ended up grinning at her friend, too happy to meet him again.

They didn't talk that much during the travel to Hogwarts but that was how their relationship was, even though it did changed when Leta confessed she loved his brother last year, unaware of the fact Newt had a crush on her. They discussed about it and both decided to stay friend but it's been awkward between them since this event. The truth was Newt was angry at her, at his brother and at himself too, knowing it was his fault as well for not telling her his feelings sooner even if it would had not change anything.

"Newt ? Newt !" She called him and he jumped as she bursted his bubble, watching her with a quizzical look, "C'mon, we've arrived."

He stood up silently and followed her outside, not quite looking the other students, even the younger. They were aiming at the carriages when they heard a group of Gryffindor laughing at them. Leta glared at them but Newt just grabbed her sleeve to drag her with him

"Just ignore them." he mumbled.

She and Newt were almost expelled during their sixth year for causing an accident involving a Jarvey. Jarveys weren't that dangerous actually for a well trained wizard but they weren't. Leta wanted to try something and lost control of the rude creature known to be quite brutal. A student was injured and, in addition to that, they weren't even supposed to possess that kind of beast in the first place. Newt took the blame for his friend out of love but since then, they became both quite unpopular, not that they were before for that matter. Leta groaned and sat next to Newt in the carriage then it began to move apparently by itself toward the majestic castle. As soon as they arrived, all the students reunited into the Great Hall, each settling down at their house's table.

Leta went to the Slytherin's table, sitting not too far from Newt so she just had to turned around to talk with him. The Headmaster, Phineas Nigellus Black, was already here, ready to make his every year speech. He was a sarcastic and haughty man, not very appreciated by mostly of the students and even teachers.

"Welcome to the students for another year of hardworking, success and less idiocy, I hope, in Hogwarts. This year is a very special one though. As many of you suspected, the Ilvermorny school shall study and also fight with us in the very famous and dangerous Stark Wizarding Overseas Tournement, also known as S.W.O.T. I'm counting on our most brilliant student to show them Hogwarts is the best school in the world, for the other I'll warn you only once: the tasks are not for the weak or the coward. Your participation is at your own risk. But for now, let's welcome properly the Ilvermorny students and their Headmistress: Mrs Perkins ! "

Suddenly, as if all of the scene was rehearsed, the students of Ilvermorny entered with their Headmistress at the head. She was a beautiful dark tall witch with light blue eyes. She looked fairly severe however and quite proud. A handsome man was walking beside her with great confidence. Some students were wearing a blue and cranberry uniform, with a fine gold gordian knot and black waiscoat while the others had yellow and cranberry cloak. They were obediently following their Headmistress, looking well-disciplined and dignified. They abruptly halted all together in front of the Hogwarts students, not far from Mr Black. Mrs Perkins turned around with a cheeky smile and rose her wand like a Maestro.

_"Caw-caw, Caw-caw ! Purr-Purr."_

She taped the floor with her foot and every pupils began singing in chorus.

_"We stand as one united,_  
Against the Puritan.  
We draw our inspiration  
From good witch Morrigan. 

__

_For she was persecuted_  
By common wandless men.  
So she fled from distant Ireland,  
And so our school began. 

__

_Oh! Ilvermorny-Massachusetts!_  
We choo-choose it!  
We choo-choose it!  
The wizard school supreme. 

__

_Your castle walls, they kept us safe._  
The days with you, a dream  
You taught us all our magic  
And now one thing's quite clear 

__

_Where'er we roam_  
Where'er we roam  
Our one true home  
Our one and own 

____

_Is Ilvermorny dear!"_

____

As soon as they finished their hymn, everyone applauded, some good heartedly, some other only out of politness. A lot of Ilvermorny students were staring around with delight. The ceiling, especially, had good success with the floating candle and the fake sky. A beautiful blond girl was watching the Hogwarts students instead though, grinning at them sweetly.

____

"Wahou, she's gorgeous ! " Leta whispered to Newt who blinked with lack of understanding.

____

He followed her gaze and wrongly though she was talking about the brunette standing beside the pretty girl. She was fixing the floor with lowered eyes, obviously avoiding others people's gaze. Her hair were short and she was small and thin. She shyly smiled as the blond whispered something to her ear and giggled. However, the next moment her smile was already gone replaced by a taciturn face.

____

"She looked rather intimidated if you want my opinion." he stated as a reply just to earn a frowning from his confused friend.

____

"Not the dark one Newt ! The little blond ! She's so cute she looks like a doll !" Leta chuckled.

____

He was about to reply he wasn't too fond of dolls when Mr Black ordered all the students to listen. He invited the Ilvermorny pupils to sit according to affinity. Consequently, Mrs Perkins told the Wampus to go with the Gryffindor who applauded and whistled in response. Then she ordered to the Horned Serpent to sit with the Ravenclaw. They watched each others with rivalry. The Pukwudgie house was invited to join the Hufflepuff one and was welcomed by warm smile and handshaking. Finally, the Thunderbird house settled with the Slytherin, both wondering if they might get along or not. The blond girl immediatly aimed at Newt with a big smile, ignoring the others boys staring. She joyfully sat next to him while he tried very hard to pretend she wasn't here.

____

"Hey ! My name is Queenie !" she said with a cheerful voice, "What's your name Honey ?"

____

Newt turned crimson, really not expecting that kind of liberty coming from a stranger, a girl moreover. A twelve years old girl actually. Unable to reply, he decided to look at his empty plate instead, as if it was the most interesting thing in the room. Not downhearted, the girl by the name of Queenie shrugged, still smiling.

____

"You're a shy one, uh Honey ? It's okay, you don't have to tell me." She winked at him and took a piece of custard tart, "Oh, nom-nom !" She exclaimed as she bite into it.

____

Meanwhile, the dark girl rushed at the end of the Slytherin table and purposely sat alone there. She felt glad nobody actually payed attention to her since she was trying really hard to keep a low profile. Well, hardly nobody. The handsome man who entered with her Headmistress was looking at her with disapproval and yet indulgence. She blushed when she caught his eyes and immediately lowered hers with discomfort. Mr Black, after discussing with Mrs Perkins, finally annouced the inscription for the competition might be the day after during the evening in Professor Dumbledore's office. As soon as she knew what she needed to, the brunette left the room and, following some Slytherin who did the same, went to the dormitory, calling it a night. Queenie furtively glanced at her, a spark of worry passing on her pretty face as she saw the other girl exiting the Great Hall hurriedly.

____


	2. The SWOT's inscription.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there. Chapter two out ! You might recognise the first meeting of Newt and Tina in New York in this chapter. For the soundtrack I advise you "introducing Colin" from Chamber of secrets and also "the zoo visit/Harry's letter" from Philosopher Stone. Young Tina is very polite with people (it's one of her way to deal with awkward situation) so she called any older person Mr ou Mrs (keep in mind young Newt is 18). She is also far less confident than the grown up Tina and more shy so she have a tendancy to be bossy. Newt is not socially awkward, well I mean he is obviously, but at this stage he's not interrested by other people and even tend to dislike them at first sight (while the grown up Newt is more empathic and quite open with others, see when he's talking to Mary Lou Barbone without any animosity despite being the target of her organisation.)
> 
> Feel free to tell me if this chapter is okay. Also, I had a hard time finding a name for that tournment since Rowling like when it means something, I couldn't chose something too random, hope it's okay though. Next week I'll update London's case (Without surprise, Tina shall wake up from her coma but you'll see). Good read ! HW.
> 
> Edit 12/5/19: So sorry, I completely forgot about the next chapter clue (London's cases so.) I'll just show a very short passage from it as a clue starting from now but at the end of every chapter (so if you don't want to, beware). Hope it's okay with you. I warn you, as a Slytherin, I can be a little tricky.

The two girls were eating their breakfast together in the Great Hall, checking their respective schedule at the same time. It was seven o'clock and the room was hardly half full.

"What do you have this morning ?" The brunette asked to Queenie.

"Hum something called Muggle studies, I don't really know what is it" she added when she saw the other girl's questionning look, "I think it does have to do with the No-maj."

"Why did you choose that subject ?"

"It sounded funny, that's all. What about you Teenie ?" She asked back curiously.

"Defence against the dark arts. Hey, Queenie… How are the students you're living with ?"

"You mean the Hufflepuff guys ?" The girl she called Teenie nodded in response, "they're okay taken as a whole I guess. I think I could be friend with the shy Brit. He seems nice. Why you're asking ?"

"For nothing." She replied hurriedly looking troubled, "I'm just glad you're making friend."

"Oh Teen, you'll make friend too as soon as they see how wonderful you are !"

"Don't read my mind." She mumbled with annoyance, "we should go and find the classroom or we'll get lost."

"Already ?" Queenie pouted as she served herself some more chicken, "I'm not done yet ! That chicken is so good !"

"Sometimes I wonder where go all the food you eat" she rolled her eyes with a half smile, "Just don't be late okay ? Or you know who might be all over you."

Queenie nodded with her mouth full of chicken while the other left the table. The day passed without anything peculiar happening. Queenie even managed to make some new friend, even though she was already quite popular among the Ilvermorny student, even the oldest one. It's true however she was more appreciated by the boys than the girls because of some misplaced rivalry. She wasn't interested by boys though, or not yet at least, even if she knew they found her beautiful. For now, she was looking for her sister to go dinner together. She finally spotted her near a crowd in the DADA's classroom. An handsome and confident looking man was talking to the students. He was leaning on his desk with his hands in his pocket, in a very casual demeanour. His speech was everything but casual though.

"Volunteers shall write their name on that list, but I want you to think twice before. By writing your name, you're accepting a contract which means no way back. The only ways to quit the competition is to be eliminated or to die. Withdraw aren't valid as well. Now if you're really sure of yourself, make a queue in front of my desk and sign."

Queenie didn't know what "make a queue" meant but found the expression funny. She wasn't surprised to note that there were practically only boys and that they were all at least sixteen. She saw with horror her sister was among them. Some of them were staring at her as if she had two head, some others were perplexe obviously, even the one from her own school. She knew her sis felt like an intruder but wouldn't renounce. She wanted to talk to her, to tell her to not participate but the crowd didn't let her the time to do so. When the dark girl finally reached the teacher's desk to write her name, he didn't handed her the quill as he did before for the others, but watched her with a frown and a kind smile though.

"A young lady, how unusual." He remarked, "how old are you ?"

"I'm fourteen, Sir." She replied with lowered eyes.

Dumbledore considered the young girl some second before replying, as if he was examining her chance to succed.

"Are you sure you want to sign that list ?"

"Yes Sir." She simply answered, still not looking at him.

"I'm affraid I -" Dumbledore didn't finished for he was cut short by a tall dark man entering the room.

Everyone moved aside to let him pass as if he was some kind of King or Chief.

"It's okay Albus. She's my trainee." He looked rather confident his words would be enough and, indeed, it was.

"Percival. I didn't know the MACUSA was recruiting that early." Dumbledore stated half jokingly.

A lot of student began whispering at the mention of the very famous American organisation.

"She lacks of confidence but she's talented. She can handle it." He carried on, ignoring the murmurs around him.

"As you wish." Dumbledore shrugged and handed her the quill. She neatly wrote her full name on the paper. As she finished, Dumbledore took the quill back, glanced at her name and smiled.

"Well, welcome in the competition Miss Goldstein."

Queenie stared at the scene with horrified eyes. She followed her sister when the latter left the room with haste to escape the staring people. When she finally cought her up, she was in the School's library, busy with checking on some book. The room seemed to be empty.

Meanwhile.

As his class finished, Newt decided to go in the library to look for a book about Niffler. During his summer holiday, he found a young injured one and consequently adopted it. Inexperienced, he thought it might be wise to try to learn more about them. He didn't told Leta about it, since their awkward discussion about her crush on his brother Theseus, he had begun to keep some thing for himself. He was disappointed but not surprised to observe there were hardly one or two books mentioning Nifflers. _I might fix that later, _he told himself, already forseeing his future as a Magizoologist. Suddenly, he frozed as he heard two girls quarelling around. He didn't had the intention to spy on them or anything, he could swear, but he couldn't help but listened what they were talking about.__

__"You had promised me you wouldn't do that thing, Tina !" The girl he recognised as beeing Queenie shouted angrily._ _

__"That was before Mr Graves asks me to go for it. Besides, i'm doing it for us." A voice he didn't know retorted with a tone of finality._ _

__"Are you sure about that ? Or are you doing it for him instead ?"_ _

__"You're beeing unfair Queenie ! I'm doing everything I can so we can leave that horrible place as soon as possible ! And Mr Graves too ! So try to show some gratitude for Morrigan's sake !"_ _

__Queenie opened her mouth to reply but closed it in the end, at a loss for words. She turned around curtly and rushed like a storm out of the room without noticing Newt. Tina called her back and went after her. However, she frozed when she remarked Newt's presence. She stared at him with both incertitude and annoyance._ _

__"Who are you ?" She asked with bad humor._ _

__"I'm sorry ?" He asked as he understood the girl was actually talking to him._ _

__"Who are you ?" She repeated with even more irritation._ _

__"Newt Scamander and you are ?"_ _

__"What exactly are you doing here ?" She ignored his question, still annoyed._ _

__"Oh, I'm looking for a book about Niffler." He replied not in the least offended. She frowned with confusion at the word "Niffler", ignoring it was actually a magical creature._ _

__"You chose a very bad moment to search for a book, Mr Scamander !" she scolded him and became even more pissed when she saw his half smile. He indeed found it very amusing to be given a roasting by a fourth year, rather cute on top of that if he was being honest with himself. "We were in the middle of a personal conversation here !"_ _

__"Well, you can tell me to mind my own business but it sounded more like a row actually."_ _

__"You're right." She said with a low voice. Newt watched her with surprise, expectant. "Mind your own business." she finished curtly before exiting the library. Newt followed her with his eyes and shrugged with indifference as she closed the door behind her._ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "She was cut middle sentence by something, or rather someone, catching her without warning. She blinked with big eyes, not understanding what was happening to her.  
> "Thanks Paracelcus you’re okay" [...]". End quote.


	3. Private lessons ? Why ?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey. So in this chapter I wanted to develop the relationship between the character, but the plot is also progressing. I hope it's not too cliché or far-fetched. There is dramatic irony here, I wonder if you'll find what. For some reason I wanted Tina to be interested in wand's behavior, I thought it could be relevant since she's supposed to be good at Charms, or at least have a fair interest in the subject (Transfiguration as well according to the books she owned in the movie). For the soundtrack, I advise you "a journey to Hogwarts" from order of Phoenix (for Queenie and Tina part I think.) ans also "Umbridge spoils a beautiful Morning" for Newt and Dumbledore part. You might remark Dumbledore calls him "Mr Scamander" in public and "Newt" in private (I think he have a similar relationship than the one with Harry later).   
> As usual, you'll find a quote from the next chapter of London's cases at the end of that chapter.   
> Anyway, I hope you'll like it ans that you'll find it to be interesting ! Good read, HW.

Dumbledore was still in his office, discussing with Graves about the fact he encouraged a child to be a part of a potentially deadly competition.

"Are you sure it's a good idea Percival ? She's not even fifteen, the others won't do her any favours."

"Then it'll just mean she's not suited to become an Auror." The man simply answered as if it was a minor problem, "That said, I'm sure she's got what it takes to be a very skilled witch. She's already very gifted, I just have to shape her -"

"Do you hear yourself ?" Albus cut him with exasperation, "You're talking as if she's some soldier to train !"

Percival glared at him, cut to the quick for he deeply cared about the girl and her sister even if he didn't showed it, he admitted.

"I'm doing it for her. Her late father used to be a very talented Auror. She wants to follow his lead very much."

Dumbledore sighed, knowing it was useless to argue with him since he was an Auror and a stubborn one on top of that. He chose to negociate instead to increase Tina's chance to get through it alive.

"In that case, just allow me to bring her some support. She'll lack of essential knowledge in a lot of discipline." He glanced at Graves who was considering his suggestion, "Unless i'm very much mistaken, Ilvermony doesn't even teach care of magical creature, does it ?"

"What do you propose ?" Graves finally conceded, agreeing it might be wise to give her some extra lesson. He knew she'll obey.

Dumbledore gave him an impish smile, already amused by the idea he found.

End of the first week.

Newt and Leta were having lunch when Dumbledore came to meet them. It's was quite early so the Great Hall wasn't that full yet.

"Mr Scamander ?" He called him. Newt, surprised, awkwardly dropped his fork in his plate and turned his attention toward him with a questioning look on his face, Leta imitating him at the same time. "May I have a word with you please ? In my office."

Newt blinked and shrugged when his Slytherin friend gave him a quizzical look in her turn. He stood up and follow his teacher obediently. They went into his office and Dumbledore invited Newt to take a sit.

"Is - is there a problem Professor ?" The young boy asked with incertitude. He just hoped he, or Leta, didn't do something wrong again.

"No, everything's all right Newt." Dumbledore reassured him quickly. "In the contrary, I summoned you because you're the only one who can help me."

"What is it Sir ?" Newt widen his eyes, taken aback by this news. Dumbledore seemed to be searching for his words for some seconds then spoke.

"You do know this year we're organising the Stark Wizarding Overseas Tournement and that there isn't an age limit to be part of it, don't you ?" Newt nodded in response, wondering what it had to do with him. "You might also know that younger wizards are wise enough to not attend, or usually at least."

"Usually ?" Newt repeated dumbfounded, "So someone did this time ?"

"Unfortunately, yes. I tried to dissuade her but she's supported by a rather powerful and obstinate Mentor. That's why I need you to help her acquiring some advanced knowledge she might need to make it alive."

"Wait, with all my respect professor, why should I be the one to do that ?" He glanced at him, obviously ill-at-ease, "That Mentor you talked about seemed more suited to - "

"The rules are clear, she can't receive any help from teachers or officials."

"I'm sorry but I still don't get why it has to be me ?" Newt insisted, clearly annoyed now.

"Because, despite not being very concerned about rules and such things," he said with a half smile, "you're still a good student in a lot of subject and I know I can trust you."

"But I - I need to study for my NEWT so I can -" The boy tried again, watching the floor with a frown.

"Become a Magizoologist, I know and talking about that, I shall propose you something you might find interesting." he made a theatrical pause before carrying on, "A strictly controled access to the Forbidden Forest which include its creatures."

Newt abruptly rose his head and Dumbledore immediately knew he had hit the nail on the head. The young wizard was now staring at him with disbelief and hope.

"I - I - "he stammered nervously, "Okay, i'll do it."

Dumbledore smile with satisfaction as they began talking about the details.

Some time later.

When Newt finally came back from his meeting with Dumbledore, Leta was waiting for him in the Great Hall, alone, reading an Astronomy's book. She turned to him as she spotted him coming her way.

"So," she began playfully as he approached, "what did you do this time ?"

"Oh nothing actually. Dumbledore asked me to help an Ilvermorny student who is stupid enough to sign in for the SWOT."

"So he wants you to what ?" She snorted, "give him private lessons ?"

"Her," he corrected, "More or less, yes."

"You agreed ?" She suddenly felt uncomfortable about Newt giving private tuition to a girl. Despite not being in love with him, he was still her only and best friend and was consequently afraid of losing him, one way or another.

"Yes he… Well he offered me an opportunity to study the Beasts living in the Forbidden Forest so…" he didn't finished but shrugged instead, "I'm supposed to meet her Monday evening. With a bit of luck, she won't pass the shortlisting so I won't have to do it for too long."

Leta didn't replied but hoped so too if she was being honest. Unfortunately for them both, that wasn't how the story went.

Meanwhile - in the Transfiguration court.

Tina wasn't the type to disagree with her Mentor but when he came and told her she was having extra lesson to catch the older students up, she became fairly irritated. She always thought she could manage going through anything alone. She'll just have to train, study a lot and do everything by the book.

"I don't need help." She coldly retorted, "Give me the books I need and i'll handle it myself."

"You're wrong Tina." Mr Graves replied calmly, "besides, you shouldn't stay alone, I already told you. You need friends, Queenie needs friends. Don't lock yourself in a shell."

Tina didn't replied but he could see at her face that she wasn't convinced so he decided he won't give her a choice.

"Well, if you take it that way," he sighed, "it's an order Tina. And i'm expecting nothing but excellence."

She rose her head abruptly, agape, at a loss for word. Finally she frowned and stared at the floor, obviously displeased.

"Understood Sir."

"Good. You'll meet him this Monday." Percival softened, "Now go and rest. The shortlisting is in two week, you'll need all the strength you've got."

She nodded briefly and left to go find her sister. When she found her, she was sitting in the grass in the Fountain Courtyard. Tina stopped when she noticed she was petting a little Porcupine which was gently lying across her legs. She rose her eyebrows as she approached her blond sister, astonished to find her in company of such an unusual animal.

"Hey Teen." Queenie said as she rose her head and sweetly smiled to her sister.

"Hey Queenie." She greeted her back before gesturing towards the sleeping rodent, "What are you doing with that thing ?"

"Cute, isn't it ? I have to turn it into a pincushion for next week. The teacher said it was easier if it was willing but every time I try it turn into a soft toy. Look."

Queenie stood up and pointed her wand at the little Porcupine who blinked curiously, wondering why its soft and comfy pillow moved away.

_"Hystrifors ! " ___

__After a second or two, the animal indeed turned into a toy, its nose still funnily sniffing the air. Tina snorted at the amusing situation._ _

__"See?" Her sister pouted. Tina came beside her and gently took her hand, intimating her to rose her wand again._ _

__"Don't be so stiff when holding your wand, they usually doesn't appreciate it. Also you mispronounce the incantation. It's "HISS-tree-fors", not "hiss-TREE-fors". Try again now."_ _

__Tina used a counter-spell to give the Porcupine its real appearance again and moved away to allow her sister to cast her spell again. The blond girl redid the transfiguration and, to her great delight, it worked well this time. The cute mammal turned into a pincushion in the twinkling of an eye._ _

__"I did it!" She shouted, jumping up and down excitedly, "You're so brilliant Teenie !"_ _

__Tina shyly smiled at her little sister then suddenly huffed with annoyance as she remembered what she had to tell her in the first place, before the Porcupine stuff._ _

__"Well, not so much apparently." Queenie's smile faded and turned into a worried look instead, "Mr Graves wants me to have some private lesson to catch up with the others." The brunette rolled her eyes with irritation._ _

__"Maybe it's not such a bad idea, Teen. I mean, they're counting on the fact you're the youngest to kick you out, believe me." She explained hurriedly when she saw Tina was staring at her with indignation._ _

__"I know that, what do you think ? But I don't need a baby sitter, i'm not a damsel in distress or anything, okay ?"_ _

__"We just want to help you." Queenie stared at her sadly, her eyes beginning to fill with tears. Tina soften as she noticed her sister's teary eyes and immediately regretted yelling at her. She lowered her eyes in guilt, telling herself she was supposed to protect her, not to make her cry._ _

__"Look Queenie I... I'm sorry. It's just that... I hate being so powerless just because i'm not old enough."_ _

__"It's okay, Honey." Her sister took her hands and stared at her tenderly, "You will someday and we'll flee that awful orphanage to go somewhere, to go anywhere !" She sighed, " You're so brave..."_ _

__Tina nodded and weakly smiled to her sister, hoping she was right. Then Queenie's expression changed suddenly into a playful one and Tina knew she was up to something._ _

__"Hey Teenie, do you think that spell could work on you ?"_ _

__Tina frowned at first, ignoring what she was talking about before realizing she actually meant the transfiguration spell._ _

__"Queenie Goldstein, don't you dare trying that on me !" She made a fake threatening grimace to her giggling sister. Queenie put her wand in her cloak's pocket and they left the Fountain Courtyard together, still holding each other's hand._ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Newt actually thought Tina would have protest against the idea of sleeping in his bedroom but verily the only thing she was aspiring to do was to sleep like a log. She sat on the bed and found it to be awfully comfortable, inviting even. Newt, on his side, opened shamelessly her case to look for one of her pyjamas. When he turned around with the garment in his hands, he noticed she was now lying on her back across his bed, apparently sleeping. "


	4. A bad beginning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey chapter 4 out. Achilles is making his entrance, Newt and Tina also meet again ! He's not really nice though, comparing to his grown up version but remember that he's bitter about people since they called him a weirdo. Tina has a lot of insecurities too so she's slightly on the defensive. I hope you'll like it though. Good read ! 
> 
> HW.

Monday morning.

"Hey Teenie ?", Queenie turned to her sister as she finished swallowing a big piece of apple pie, "Isn't that today you're meeting that student who'll give you private lesson ?"

"Shucks !" Tina rolled her eyes, "I completely forgot about that thing ! What a pain !" She complained.

"Stop whining ! Who knows, it might be funny !" Then the blond smiled mischievously, "Maybe it's a cute boy even."

Tina gave her a perplexe look but Queenie just laughed good heartedly.

"What ? You're fourteen and you never kissed anyone. And don't tell me no one wanted to because boys are interested I can tell. You're just so…"

"So what ?" Tina asked with a half smile.

"Bossy. You scared them. And so does Percival !" Queenie made a fake frightened face then laughed again, earning a cheeky smile from her big sister. She was about to reply she prefered to be scary than idiot when a good looking guy sat next to her. At his arrival, Queenie suddenly stopped her laugh, and avoided his gaze.

"Hey girls." He said with a smile.

"Hey Achilles." Tina returned his smile while Queenie didn't responded.

"I heard you signed in for the SWOT last week Tina, which means we're going to be rival."

Queenie abruptly stood up and cleared her throat, not quite looking at them.

"I er… I just remembered I have something to do before my first class. See you Teenie. Bye Achilles." She told, ill-at-ease.

Tina watched her little sister leaving with surprise, wondering what was wrong with her all of a sudden. Achilles just shrugged and carried on as if nothing had happened.

"I must admit you have a disadvantage here. I'm a sixth year while you're a fourth. I know sooo much more than you." He leaned a little closer but she didn't notice, "I can give you a hand if you want to…"

"Don't worry, I already found a solution." She gave him a friendly smile, "just don't be a sore loser when I'll make you eat dust !"

"We'll see Tina. May the best wizard win !"

The rest of the day passed quite quickly. The teachers were good, she could concede and they already had acknowledged her as a good student. Some Ravenclaw wondered why she wasn't in the Horned Serpent house instead, not aware that the house directly chose their students. So she just explained the Thunderbird took her and that the Horned Serpent did not. The moment to meet her new "teacher" came too quickly to her liking though. She was nervous he won't be friendly or patient, knowing she was going to have trouble with some subject. She liked charms and defense against dark arts very much but wasn't that good in potion and transfiguration. Or at least she thought so. In fact she was quite good in every subject or mostly for her age but, of course, it frustrated her greatly to have trouble with more advanced magic. So she believed she never did enough despite Graves and Queenie telling her she was already doing her best. Tina was so absorbed by her though she realized half way she didn't know if she had to take anything with her. So she returned in her dormitory, put down her wand on her nightstand and grabbed a book for every subject. She then left with the books. She was so agitated she forgot her wand and consequently had trouble to walk with all of her books and what was supposed to happen, happened indeed. She bumped into a girl as she stumbled on a very tricky flagstone. Her books all fell on the floor.

"Hey, watch where you're going !" The girl grumbled.

"Sorry…" Tina apologised as she crouched to pick up her fallen books. The girl, a pretty Slytherin, stared at her with a sharp look but softened eventually, noticing at her attire she was an Ilvermorny student which meant she was probably a little disoriented.

"Here." She said as she helped her. Tina glanced at her and made a shy smile as a thanks. Before the girl left, Tina stopped her.

"Er, could you tell me where is the Great Lake please ? I'm a bit… Lost."

"It's in the west wing of the school. Go through the court-yard. It's just outside." Tina thanked her again with a short nod and turned around, ready to take her leave. "Hey !" The girl called her back. Tina watched her with a curious look. "Use you wand next time." She told her with an amused smile and finally left. Tina blinked, then walked away aiming at the Great Lake.

She had no idea but, meanwhile, Newt was as nervous as her if not more. Of course he knew the girl he had to teach was doubtlessly younger than he but it didn't reassured him or anything since it wasn't her age the problem but that she was another human being, and a girl on top of that. He was thinking about a million of situation where his "social capacity" might be sorely tested. What if she was some cry-baby ? Or a pest ? Then he thought about something worst: a snob, like Leta called some girls sometimes who are counting on their beauty to achieve their goals. After some moments standing alone in the grass, lost in his thought, a girl's voice eventually brought him back to reality. He was surprised to note he knew it though.

"You ?!" Tina shouted as she understood he was the student supposed to give her private lessons.

He blinked several time in confusion before getting what was going on.

"I suppose you're Miss Goldstein ?" He asked, not sure about what to think about the situation. Amusing or annoying ? He really couldn't say. "Have a sit." He told her without waiting for a reply as he sat himself in the grass. "Please ?" He then added since she stood there like a lemon, utterly speechless.

She sighed heavily and complied, putting her books on the floor and sitting in front of him, quite far he remarked with amusement. She, as for her, noticed he didn't watched her in the eyes once since she had arrived so she guessed, with relief truth to be told, that he was as uncomfortable as her.

"So er…" he began hesitantly, "Professor Dumbledore told me your Mentor wants you to have some help with your studies ?"

"Yes, Mr Graves believed I'll lack of knowledge for the tournament."

Newt tilted his head, trying to remember why this name sounded so familiar. His brother Theseus used to communicate with someone called Graves from the MACUSA. A powerful and respected wizard, to say the least.

"You mean Percival Graves ?" She nodded, "He works for the MACUSA. So you want to become some kind of investigator ?"

"Uh uh" she nodded again.

Newt watched her from top to bottom, noticing for the first time how frail she seemed. She clicked her fingers impatiently when she noted his staring, trying to look more tough.

"Er… Okay, I - I might ask you a few question if you don't mind. Did you already used a broomstick ?"

"Yes, I play Quodpot sometimes."

He supposed it was some American game and resumed his questioning consequently, not interested to know more about it for now. It wasn't the point here anyway.

"Already studied a magical creature ?"

"Not really."

He snorted, thinking that a serious school should have at least a class about them. She glared at him as if she knew what he had in his mind but he didn't seemed to care.

"I don't think I need to ask if you can swim now, do I ?" He glanced at her just to raised his eyebrows in surprise when she swallowed hard with shifty eyes, evidently avoiding his gaze. "You can't ?" He asked again in disbelief.

"I've never learned okay ?!" She retorted with rosy cheeks, ashamed.

He watched her some second in silence, frowning a little, then suddenly asked her to undress, unaware that people might misunderstood his demand. Fortunately, it was overcast that day so students preferred studying in the castle leaving them all alone.

"What ?" She feigned incomprehension but she get too well what he had in mind.

She jumped up and step back as she remarked he was getting on his feet and slowly approaching her.

"Absolutely not !" she shouted.

"Now Miss Goldstein, it'll be easier without your shoes and cloak." He told her innocently and frowned at her in disapproval as she tried to escape. He pointed his wand towards her consequently, ready to throw a spell. She searched for hers before remembering she had forget it in the dormitory. With a swift gesture, he dragged her with a spell and firmly grabbed her by the wrist. She struggled hard, telling him to let her go. He heard a last shout before throwing her in the Lake without mercy. She felt the cold water enlacing her body like a snake does before killing its prey. Tina shook her arms in an attempt to keep her head out of the water, calling desperately for help for she believed she could sink at any moment when Newt would evidently intervene if there was a real danger.

"Don't panic." Newt said. She noticed with indignation he seemed somehow amused by the situation he put her in.

"What do you suggest I do instead ?!" She yelled in anger.

"There is no reason to be afraid. The human body naturally floats. Move your arms and legs. Breathe slowly and deeply." He instructed her calmly.

When she eventually managed to cling to the dry land, she painstakingly hauled herself up onto it, looking daggers at the reddish-brown boy. She seemed ready to burst with rage but she left hurriedly in the castle's direction instead without saying a word or taking her books and completely drenched. People stared at her funnily as she passed in the Castle's corridors as she left some puddle of water on the floor on her way. She swore with a very low voice like a growl, unable to dry herself. She began to feel cold and it reminded her memories she rather preferred to not think about. The only thing she was willing to do right now was to find her sister for comfort since she always knew what to do to cheer her up. When she finally spotted her she was on her way to the Hufflepuff common room with a Potion book in her hand, apparently ready to do her homework. She opened her eyes wide as she noticed her sister was drenched and looked rather upset.

"Teenie, what happened ?! Did Peeves poured a bucket of water on you ?" Then she stared at her sister as she learned what happened and opened her arm, inviting her for a hug with a regretful face. Tina embraced her sister without hesitation, her eyes gleaming with tears she endeavored to hold back. "I'm so sorry Teen." She just said as she didn't find anything else to tell her to comfort her.

"I don't want to see his face ever again." Tina replied with a hoarse voice.

Queenie stroked her back in a soothing gesture before telling her she should give him a second chance.

"He couldn't know, Teenie. It's not really his fault." She looked quite sorry as she tried to encourage her.

Tina lowered her gaze in an attempt to compose herself, ashamed it had to be her little sister to cheer her up while she was supposed to be the protective one since she was older.

"Don't think like this. I'm here for you just like you're here for me Teen. We have each other." She smiled sweetly at her, earning a shy but tender gaze from her big sister, sure they could get through anything together after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> London's cases next chapter quote:  
> Meanwhile.  
> Tina was wandering around Isabelle's enclosure when she heard her very loving and stubborn boyfriend calling her from far. Noticing he was actually coming in her direction, she fled aiming at the hippogriff’s area, hoping she could hide in the wood. She didn’t expected to find a little but scary creature here, masked by some fluffy bush. When they ran into each other, Tina and Scarlett both jumped with surprise.  
> "Scarlett ?" Tina whispered in disbelief, "what are you doing here ? Aren’t you supposed to be in your pen ?"


	5. New Attempt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Potterheads. So, chapter 5 is a little shorter than usual but I can assure you the next one shall be longer (not too much I hope). So Newt and Tina are still not very friendly but there is progress I guess, at least they're trying to understand each other. Queenie is protective and Leta is too (though she doesn't know it). How would you feel if Queenie and Leta become friend as the story goes on ? Just asking, I think they'll definitely be. Also, tell me what do you think about the shortlisting (or the first task if you prefer) ? No specific soundtrack for that one, feel free to tell me if one is fitting. Have a good read ! Hope you'll like.
> 
> PS: I replaced some dialogue from the first movie, hope it's okay and not artificial. I'm enjoying myself writing this anyway.
> 
> HW.

"You should have seen her face," Newt chuckled as he reminded how Tina reacted when he threw her in the water, "It was hilarious."

Leta was looking at him, abashed by his usually soft friend's behavior. He joined her in the library where she told him she was studying for her assignments. Newt wasn't the kind to push people, both literally or figuratively so she consequently was really taken aback by what he did, especially to someone he hardly knew.

"Why did you do that to that poor girl ? Did she annoyed you or something ?" Leta asked with a frown.

"Well, see, I read this is one way to deal with disobedient beasts." He shrugged, "I thought it could work or that, at least, she'll renounce to participate. If she can't even swim, I don't want to see what might happen during a real task."

"You can't treat people as you would with creature Newt." Leta crossed her arms on her chest in clear disapproval, "Besides, I though she couldn't give up now ?"

"Actually, she can as long as the shortlisting has not passed yet."

Leta didn't replied and resumed her working silently. After a moment, they saw Queenie coming hurriedly toward them. She looked rather annoyed.

"Mr Graves wants to talk with you." She said without a greeting. Newt stood up awkwardly, wondering if he was in trouble or not. He followed the little blond with a hesitant step.

"There is nothing to worry about." Queenie told him curtly as if she had read his mind. Newt wasn't really good to communicate with other human but he could tell she was angry with him right now. She suddenly stopped in front of a room's door he never saw before, probably created to welcome the guests. "It's here." She informed him with the same tone before turning to him. "I like you Newt, really. But don't you dare doing something like this to my sister again." She glared at him a last time and finally left him alone facing the door. He didn't need to knock for he heard a masculine voice ordering him to come in.

"Have a seat."

Newt immediately knew what Dumbledore felt when he faced Percival Graves himself. It was obvious he wasn't the kind of man to take no as an acceptable answer.

"My name is Percival Graves. I'm an Auror from the MACUSA and also Tina's Mentor." He introduced himself shortly, "If i'm not mistaken, you're Newton Scamander, the student chosen by Dumbledore to support Tina. Let's not beat about the bush. How was the first lesson ?"

"I hum…" Newt began uncertainly, "I had some trouble to make her obey me. See, she - Well, I learned she couldn't swim so I - I asked her to go into the Lake but she refused."

"So what did you do ?" Mr Graves asked patiently.

"Er Well, I - I might have threw her into it. Forcibly, that is." He swallowed hard, not quite looking at the confident man sitting in front of him.

"Good." Newt glanced at the man with a look of surprise. He expected remonstrance for his quite tough behavior, not praise. "You might note in the future, Mr Scamander, that Tina sometime needs a little push to go through difficulties. She lacks of confidence and have a rather poor self-esteem."

Newt nodded silently even if he believed the hard way wasn't always the better solution in fact.

"With all my respect Sir," he mumbled looking at the desk instead of the man to give him courage, "I - I'm not sure it's a good idea to let her participate to that tournament."

"I only proposed her to be part of it, she took the final decision and you'll also note in the future she's very stubborn. Even if I tell her to renounce now, she won't. That's why I need your help Mr Scamander."

Newt nodded silently once again, unable to find something to reply for he was himself considered to be quite obstinate by a lot of people actually. The first one being his brother.

The next day, he wasn't surprised to find Tina waiting for him outside the castle, seemingly ready to learn how to swim. She was sitting in the grass when he spotted her, apparently lost in her thought. She jumped up as he approached her from behind. He absent mindedly thought that she had a good hearing to remarked he was coming. Then he considered offering apologies for what he did, despite Mr Graves' opinion, but she didn't let him the time to as she began speaking to him, not looking at him though.

"Mr Scamander, I…" she looked for words, uncomfortable with the awkwardness between them, "Listen, I wanted to apologize for my bad behavior from yesterday. If you're still willing to help me, I'd like you to teach me how to swim."

"Well, I - I'm still here, am I not ?" He replied softly "Come with me, we'll find an area where you'll be able to touch the bottom."

She nodded and followed him obediently, watching the Black Lake with apprehension. He noticed her worried look and tried the best he could to reassure her.

"There is no reason to be afraid Miss Goldstein. Like I said before, you won't sink if you stay calm."

She suddenly halted, staring at the water blankly, as if it was a huge Death potion, dark and fatal to anyone who would dare to touch it.

"What if it doesn't work ?" She asked with a wobble in her voice she didn't manage to suppress, "What if I don't make it ?"

"You'll do just fine." He said as he turned around to face her, meeting her eyes for the first time since the start of the lesson. She weakly nodded in response, only half convinced. They began walking again until they approached the bank of the Lake. Tina took a big breathe and used her wand to transfigure her clothes into an Ilvermorny swimsuit. It was blue, like a Thunderbird, with golden wings pictured in the back. She didn't notice Newt's blush as he looked away from her, unusually troubled by the girl. Yet, he noted, impressed, that she was already able to use non verbal spell, a simple one but still. He also remarked she was trembling though he couldn't say if it was with apprehension or with cold. She shivered even more when the cold water touched her naked feet but the brunette was no stranger to cold, she even had worse before in fact.

"It's not that unpleasant actually." She laughed in a fluttering breathe, as if she couldn't believe her own words.

"You - you might want to go slowly though, you wouldn't want to finish like an Ashwinder egg now, do you ?" Newt half smiled, looking to the ground as she turned her head towards him, confused.

"Excuse me ?" She frowned, wondering if it was supposed to be a joke or not before leaning to wet the back of her neck as well as her wrists and finally entering fully in the water.

"It's an expression derived from the way to neutralise Ashwinder eggs. See, those are known to cause fire so you have to freeze them in order to prevent the blaze. You're about to enter in the freezing water of the Lake so…"

Tina frowned even more at his explanation but decided to drop it eventually, too focused on her goal to question him about it. Yet, she told herself she definitely would later. She asked him what she was supposed to do instead, once she was waist-deep in the water, so he taught her the breaststroke, thinking it was the easiest to learn. And she was fast to master it he found out. Sure, at the beginning she looked like a baby Kelpie learning for the first time how to deal with water but she improved more quickly than he expected. So much that at the end of the week, she had became a fairly decent swimmer already. Nothing like a Merpeople or a Grindylow of course, but still. He noted however she seemed stil rather affraid of water for an unknown reason but didn't ask, believing it wasn't his business anyway. Finally satisfied with her own performance, she sat on the grass and allowed herself some chatting with the reddish boy, just to get to know him better.

"What do you want to do after school Mr Scamander ?" She asked curiously as she used a spell to dry her dripping brown hair. Newt was currently watching her, still very surprised she was already able to use non verbal spell so easily.

"Magizoologist, hopefully I'll write a book about magical creatures someday." He answered with rosy cheeks, not used to talk about himself or his ambition to anyone else than Leta.

"Like an extermination guide ?"

"No," he corrected patiently, "a book to explain why we should protect them instead of killing them."

They were interrupted in their talking by a good looking student running their way. Achilles came straight to Tina, without even a look for Newt.

"Hey Tina," he said panting a little, "That's it ! We finally know the task for the shortlisting !"

"Really ?!" She stood up abruptly, making Newt start with surprise in the process, "What is it ?!"

"Well, they're calling it " The broomstick's race". It's the next Monday."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter London's cases quote:  
> "The MACUSA ? How is this concerning them ?" Tina asked, blinking with astonishment.  
> "Well, when they heard about what happened here, the new President insisted that he should come in the Ministry Of Magic to meet our Minister and also, and I'm quoting him, congratulate that young Auror who survived Grindelwald for the third time." Tina gave him a dubious look, not believing a second the current President cared about her. "Yeah I know, I think it's just an excuse to butt in our investigations. Anyway, he wants to see you on Monday."  
> "I thought I wasn't supposed to work ?"  
> "You're not, it's just a visit."  
> "If you say so." She didn't looked convinced at all but didn't insisted.


	6. Traps in the air.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Chapter 6 out ! And this is the first task ! The easiest one. The soundtrack I can advise you is "the golden egg" from goblet of fire (mainly). So you might find the relationship between Newt and Tina is still quite cold and you'll be right. Queenie is a sweetheart as always but she had some trouble with her power in this chapter. Anyway, hope you'll like it, I enjoyed a lot writing it. Have a good read. It's a bit longer than usual, hope you don't mind. A big thanks to my beta reader, GryffindorFourLife, thank you very much for according me a little of your time ! I appreciate a lot and I hope you'll enjoy my stories !
> 
> HW.

Sunday morning.

The first task, which goal was purely and solely to eject a substantial number of participants without risking their life too much, was a plain race or that was what the students thought at least. Some of them, including Tina, found it to be much too simple and assumed that there was probably going to be a trap. She was discussing the possibility with Achilles while eating her breakfast despite the latter being less alarmed than her.

"You're being paranoid Tina," he said with a mocking tone, "How could they set a trap for us since we'll be in the air, on a broomstick and probably much too fast ?"

"I don't know Achilles" she shrugged, "I'm just following my instinct and it tells me it won't be a simple race between us. Did you know we won't be allowed a wand?"

"It proves nothing. In Quidditch and Quodpot too but there is no trap as far as I know."

Tina didn't replied and waved her hand to her sister instead, as she spotted her entering the Great Hall. Queenie smiled sweetly at her but it soon faded as she noticed Achilles was there too. She took the direction of the Hufflepuff's table, obviously avoiding the boy's presence once again. She was about to sit alone when she found out Newt was also there, eating with Leta. She sat with them consequently. Tina frowned at this strange behavior.

"What's wrong with her ?" she mumbled, "Do you think I did something that upset her ?"

Achilles wasn't listening though, to her great exasperation, too busy staring at some Gryffindor girls passing by.

"Sorry, did you say something ?"

"Nothing." she sighed.

Meanwhile, Queenie was happily talking with Newt and Leta. Well, she was the one speaking actually, Newt was just listening. It was the first time she met Leta and she wasn't actually sure to know what to think about her. She seemed rather nice, but also a little selfish and individual. She immediately felt she wasn't really welcomed, even if her presence didn't bothered Newt.

"I'm worried about Teenie", she told them at one moment with an anxious look on her pretty face, "The SWOT looks like it might be a dangerous event and the shortlisting is today already."

Newt suddenly focused a little more when he heard Tina's nickname, despite not knowing the context in which it was used. Leta was indifferent that the girl was likely going to be the target during the race. She was rather petite and thin which meant easily ejectable.

"She already knows that." Queenie informed Leta who blinked in surprise, "She's even expecting some trap but she can't figure out what or from who."

Newt immediately understood why Queenie could guess their thoughts so easily and he began to watch her with acute interest.

"You're a Legilimens, right ?"

"Uh uh," she nodded to approve, "but I have some trouble with your kind. Brits. It's the accent."

"You can read our minds ?" Leta stared at her in amazement, "How do you do it ?"

Queenie's nose scrunched in concentration before replying, "I don't really know. I just ... can."

"That talent's a real humdinger!"

Queenie awkwardly lowered her eyes. She wasn't used to be praise for her power.

"I don't think so. People usually don't like when I do it. I can understand why but the thing is, I can't help it." She explained with a tiny shy voice. "Sometimes I wish I wasn't able to see what they're thinking about. It's usually scary or sad and I feel sorry for them."

"Yeah well you shouldn't", Leta retorted, "People are no good and, most of the time, they deserve what happened to them. I say your power is a gift and it would be a waste to not use it."

Newt glanced at his friend with a frown, clearly disagreeing with her point of view. In response she watched him defiantly, as if to dare him to defy her. Unwilling to have a fight with her, he changed the subject instead.

"Are there people you can't read?"

"Of course there are ! I'm not The Great Witch Morrigan !" She laughed, "Mr. Graves is a very good Occlumens, that teacher of yours as well, And Tina is improving everyday. Mr. Graves told Teen it's a useful talent for a future auror," She added proudly then glanced briefly at Achilles, "there are some other students I can't read, like that one. I don't like him, there's something wrong with him."

Achilles stood up and left the Great Hall, apparently done with his breakfast, leaving Tina alone. Queenie called her sister as soon as he was out of sight, gesturing for Tina to join her with a sign of her hand. She watched her, then Newt and Leta hesitantly, but her sister continued to insist. The brunette rolled her eyes but came anyway.

"You could have come and sit with me you know." She whispered to her blond sister who just shrugged in response.

"I don't like Achilles." She simply stated, "I can't read his mind, I know he's hiding something."

"That's hogwash and you know it."

Leta and Newt awkwardly exchanged a look as the two girls carried on with their talk, then Leta spoke with a half smile.

"I've got to go, my next class is starting soon. See you around." The lesson was an excuse of course. The truth was that she didn't want to listen the two sisters' quarrel. Newt opened his mouth to say he might go as well but Queenie spoke first.

"I'll leave you two alone too," She said with a bright smile and a certain look in her eye, "you and Teenie have a lot to talk before for your next lesson."

She took her leave as well with a little wave of her hand to say goodbye. When Queenie left an awkward silence fell between Tina and Newt, both not very comfortable with each other's presence for some reason. They were staring at their empty plate as if it was the most interesting thing in the room. Finally, Tina gathered her courage and talked to him with a quiet voice.

"Your beau is pretty," she said. It was the first thing that had come into her mind, though now she mildly regretted asking.

"Wh- who?" Newt stuttered and tilted his head in confusion.

"The girl you're always talking with…" she precised, not quite looking at him.

"Oh, you mean —Leta's not —she's just a friend."

"Oh, sorry."

"Sorry for what?" He asked even more confused and slightly annoyed.

"Well I thought that you were… You seem quite close so I assumed you were -"

"Yeah, well don't." He replied bitterly. She lowered her eyes with guilt as she noticed she irritated him.

"So, what are we doing next time ?" She tried to change the subject but he didn't seemed ready to help.

"I don't know. We'll figure out when the time comes I suppose."

She suddenly stared at him with a frown as she guessed what he was actually thinking.

"You don't think I'll pass the shortlisting, do you ?"

He didn't reply, determined to stare at his empty plate instead for his mother had taught him to stay silent if he hadn't nothing nice to say. He started when she abruptly stood up and left the table hurriedly, a spark of sadness crossing her features. He followed her with his eyes, utterly dumbfounded by her reaction.

Monday - Just before the shortlisting.

"You should eat something Tina, today is a big day." Achilles took some chicken with eggs and rice. Tina had a dreadful feeling, no one but Graves believed she could make it today and it ruined her appetite. She wondered with irritation where was Queenie, she really needed some comfort and encouragement. She was completely lost in her thoughts, so she didn't noticed Mr Graves approaching them and jumped when he spoke.

"It's time." He informed them. Achilles swallowed a last mouthful of eggs before standing up and leaving to prepare himself. Tina, who hardly had eaten anything, imitated him. However, Mr Graves caught her shoulder to hold her back. "Calm down, take a deep breathe. You'll do fine, no doubt about it." She nodded nervously, obviously anxious. He let her go finally, a little worried for her even if he didn't show it.

All the participants went into a big tent to change. For this occasion, they had been given a flying cloak. Tina's was blue like lightening with golden wings in the back, in the colours of the Thunderbird house. It was swallow-tailed, looking as elegant as the creature that inspired it. When they were ready, Headmaster Black and Headmistress Perkins came together and asked to follow them outside. Tina went behind everyone and widened her eyes in surprise when she exited the tent. They had created big bleachers and they were all filled to the brim with cheering students and professors. The crowd, composed of both Hogwarts and Ilvermorny students and staff, began to buzz when they saw the participants. Their were fifteen in all, Tina was the only girl as well as the youngest of the group. Mr. Black used the sonorous spell to silent the students.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the first task of the SWOT ! You might think this trial is the easiest but you might also want to rethink it. At the end of the race, only seven participant shall remain." He informed theatrically, "The rules are simple: you're not allowed to have a wand. You have to stay on your broomstick at any price, if you fall it's over for you. The first seven to complete the race will be qualified for the next task. However, if there are less than seven wizards still flying, then they will be less than seven winners. In other words, if you fall from your broomstick you're out even if you're in the top seven at the end of the race." He paused, ceased his spell to talk to the student more privately, "Now, Mrs. Perkins shall attribute a broomstick to each of you. They are all the same... or seemingly."

Mrs Perkins called the participants and handed them a broomstick, wishing them good luck to each of the students. The one she gave to Tina looked rather fine and comfortable which was good news. She joined the other in the starting line and got on her broomstick. She couldn't help but notice some were giving her sidelong glance, obviously gauging their chance to shrug her off as soon as possible. When everyone was ready, Mr. Black rose his wands toward the sky and, after a brief countdown, casted green sparks to give the go-ahead to the race. The crowd went suddenly crazy as they left the floor, quick as a flash.

Meanwhile - in the library.

Queenie was sitting alone in the library, holding her head between her hands as she heard all of the crowds thoughts screaming in her mind. It was times like these she truly hated her power because she felt so overwhelmed by that constant stream of information. Her eyes began to fill with tears as she heard people wondering with excitement who will fall, if people were going to die and more precisely if Tina, "the baby girl" like the other participants called her sometimes, was going to make it despite being the number one target. Suddenly, a voice attracted her attention.

"Queenie ?" Newt entered the library and sat at the same table than she, "What are you doing here alone ?"

"Oh it's you," she mumbled with a quiet voice, which was unusual considering the fact she was often rather loud and rambunctious. But the boy noticed she looked ready to cry.

"Why aren't you with the other ? Is - is something wrong ?"

"I don't want to." She replied in a breathe, her eyes looking down, "they're all thinking so loudly. They hope -" she sniffed as the tears finally fell, "they hope Tina won't make it. If you could hear them, they're so mean!" She looked at him through watery eyes.

Newt however wasn't looking at her. He was already awkward with social interaction so with a crying girl it was worse. He stayed silent since he didn't found anything to reply. Besides, he also believed Tina wasn't going to pass the shortlisting so trying to comfort her sister would be the pot calling the kettle black really.

"You're wrong about Teenie", she retorted with a wobble in her voice as if she wasn't sure about it herself, "she's strong and brave and she's going to thrash all of them. Even that showy Achilles. You'll see."

"Queenie please don't - don't read my mind."

"It's not my fault, you're easy to read. People always are when they're hurt."

"Excuse-me ?" He asked utterly taken aback by her statement.

"Don't pretend." The blonde witch replied with annoyance, "I saw the way you're looking at Leta sometimes. You two used to be very close."

"I'm sorry, I asked you not to read my mind." He said with a reproachful tone, ignoring her observation purposely.

"She is a taker." She carried on softly regardless his remark in her turn, "You need a giver."

Newt stared at her silently, considering her words with perplexity.

Some moments later during the race.

Tina expected the other to try to get rid of her as soon as they could but this, this was fair persecution. Most of the participant attempted from the beginning of the race to make her break her grasp. Fortunately, being the lighter had its advantage as well. She sure was easy to kick out but they need to touch her to do so and she was far more agile and fast. She avoided the first one by going lower abruptly and he hardly managed to dodge the other racer who were flying not far. She went up again to dodge another one coming from below but suddenly felt a bright pain in her arm. She hardly lost her balance but stood firm. She understood a guy actually gave her a violent kick, hoping it would make her lose her grip. A Gryffindor was about to attack her again when he suddenly was hit by a spell coming from somewhere near the Forbidden Forest as they were currently flying over it, stunning them all in the process. The Gryffindor fell hardly on the ground, leaving his broomstick carrying its own way.

"What happened ?!" Achilles yelled to Tina as numerous spells crossed the sky with red and white sparks.

"I don't know !" She replied, hardly avoiding a Stupefy, "I think they are - Watch out !" She screamed as a spell came straight to him.

She gave his broomstick a kick, allowing him to avoid the curse just in time. A second racer fell with a cry, touched quite hard by what seemed to be a Depulso spell. She could see his body flying in the air before crashing heavily on the floor in his turn. After a moment that seemed like an eternity, the spells ceased as abruptly as they had began. Achilles and Tina exchanged a confused look, unable to understand what was going on. In total, four participants had fallen during this assault. The eleven left began to fiercely fight again, showing no mercy. Tina, for her part, only tried to defend herself, unwilling to hurt anyone despite the circumstances. So much that she didn't saw a Horned Serpent rushing toward her, throwing a punch right in her face. She cried out in pain, attracting Achilles's attention. He grabbed the guy by his uniform with one hand and pulled him with all the strength he could. The Horned Serpent struggled hard to stay on his broomstick but fell in the Great Lake with a big splash eventually, Achilles being too much strong for him. The latter turned to Tina who nodded to thank him. Her nose was bleeding and her eyes began to water, but she was too focused on the race to care. She glanced at the Lake and widen her eyes in fear as she remarked a big threatening form under the water's surface, swimming in the fallen student's direction. She was suddenly and quite violently interrupted in her staring as her broomstick began indeed to flail, completely out of control. She hardened her grip as much as she could but she was shaken by it like a rag doll. She wasn't the only one to have some issue with her broomstick. A few were indeed dangerously losing altitude, as if they were becoming plain brooms all of a sudden, forcing their users to react quickly to avoid the elimination. Achilles being one of those, jumped behind another student as soon as he was close enough and pushed him forwards into the Lake with a single kick before watching Tina.

"What's going on ?!" He yelled at her.

"It's - it's not responding anymore !" She replied a little panic-stricken. Her broomstick took a very sharp turn as they approached the castle, sending her abruptly overboard. She hardly managed to hang on to the handle, her feet in the void. She stared at it with anger as it tried to released itself like a maniac.

"Stop it you hear me !?" She scolded it with vehemence, but it just encouraged it to struggle even more. She was starting to give way under her own weight, her hands losing their grip slowly but surely."I said STOP IT !" She shouted this time, her voice echoing between the different parts of the school.

The broomstick suddenly froze, floating peacefully in the air like a bubble would. Tina took advantage of the opportunity to climb back up and rushed to catch the other up, aware that she probably was the last in the race. When she finally found them again, she couldn't believe her eyes: there was an impressive amount of stuff flying into the air in an attempt to disturb the remaining participants in their flying. It was like a real battlefield but thanks to her small size compared to the others, she made it without too much difficulty, zigzagging and avoiding adroitly the objects in her path while her competitors received varied stuff, such as forks, boxes or cauldrons even, with full force. In the end, she crossed the finishing line and was the very last one to be qualified, to everyone's astonishment. The crowd who was waiting for them to arrive whistled and applauded loudly the seven winners , only three Ilvermorny students, the rest being from Hogwarts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> London's cases next chapter:  
> "Tina ? What's the matter ?" He watched them with risen eyebrows, wondering why the two girls seemed to be in a middle of a slight conflict. Bunty turned around abruptly to face him, hoping he would agree with her.  
> "Mr Scamander, I was just telling Miss Goldstein you weren't available and didn't wanted to be interrupted."  
> "And I was telling your assistant I wouldn't bother you for too long." Tina retorted with bad humor, crossing her arm in a bossy way.  
> Newt began to tense as he noticed the two of them were staring at him expectantly. He turned his gaze toward Bunty and smiled awkwardly at her. He realised she wrongly believed he didn't wanted to see anyone during his preparations while actually he just wanted her to stop insisting on coming along.


	7. The Golden locket and the Pilfering Pest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 7 out, I reeaally enjoyed writing that one so I really hope you'll like it. For the soundtrack, I advise you the "Umbridge spoils a beautiful morning" soundtrack for the sneaking scene. Tell me if you like where the plot is going ! I love writing dialogue between my character so much ! Have a good read. By the way, this chapter is longer than usual.
> 
> HW.

Mr. Black and Mrs. Perkins welcomed the seven qualified champions as soon as they landed on the floor. They were all panting and looked utterly exhausted. Some, like Tina, even had some minor injuries but nothing too serious. Mr. Black congratulated them briefly and Tina quickly deduced that he held something of an obvious distaste for the Ilvermorny students who had the nerve to pass the shortlisting.

"The next task will be in three weeks and it will be far more dangerous than the first. If you're tired after this simple task, you'll want to train harder if you want to succeed the next one or at the very least avoid being killed."

He left the group without any other word or praise. In stark contrast, Mrs. Perkins called out to her students with a warm and welcoming voice.

"I'm very proud of you children. You're honoring the school by doing your best. Rest now, you deserve it."

The others students turned around to leave, however Tina wanted to ask something to the Headmistress so she followed her teacher who was about to take her leave too.

"Mrs. Perkins," she said quickly, "how are the others?"

Mrs. Perkins watched her with a fair amount of curiosity then smiled recognizing a kind soul in this young contestant.

"Oh, you mean the participants that fell. They are in the nurse's office for some broken bones. Nothing serious, don't worry." She added when she noticed Tina's worried look, "The giant Squid took care of the one that ended up in the Lake."

"Uh? Um, okay ..." Tina opened her eyes wide at the mention of a Giant Squid, unaware until now she had been swimming in the same waters than a gigantic magical creature. Her teacher made a tiny chuckle facing her reaction and finally exited the area. When Tina entered the castle some minutes later, she spotted Achilles with a lot of friends celebrating his qualification. She considered joining him to congratulate him but opted for a more silent and solitary break instead. That's what she hoped to achieve by retreating to her dormitory when she felt a small pair of arms around her waist, squeezing her as if she was a tall skinny teddy bear. She smiled as she quickly recognized who had done this.

"I knew you could make it Teenie !" Queenie giggled and squealed as she let her go, "you're real good at thinking on your toes !"

"Calm down Queenie, it was only the shortlisting." Tina smiled at the bouncing blonde's enthusiasm.

"And yet, I'm still really proud! I was afraid the others would try to hurt you and - " she suddenly stopped talking and widened her big blue eyes. "Oh Teenie, is that blood ?!"

Tina used her sleeve to wipe under her broken nose and saw that it hadn't stopped bleeding. She hissed with pain and quickly removed her hand from her face with a slight flinch she tried to suppress to ease her sister's fears. However, the young Legilimens looked more angry than scared actually.

"How did this happen, Teenie ?" She read her mind and found out it was some other student who did this to her sister, "Mercy Lewis, if I catch that guy !"

"It's nothing personal Queenie. Besides, It's just a few scratches and bruises, I'll be fine in no time."

Queenie was on the verge of replying to her, but they heard footsteps in the corridor behind them slowly coming in their direction.

"Ah here you are," Mr Graves was looking for her since the end of the race to see how she was doing, "Don't move."

He didn't give her the time to reply as he silently fixed her nose with a swift movement of his wand, aiming directly at her face. She cried out in surprise but felt a lot better afterward. She touched her nose hesitantly and mumbled a thanks when she noticed it wasn't broken and bleeding anymore.

"Well, apart from that, you seem fine. Good." He said as he inspected her in search for any other wound or trauma. "Congratulation Tina, you did well back there."

"I just did my best." She mumbled with a blush, always pleased by the very rare praise he gave her.

"And I want you to carry on. I'm sure your parents would be proud of you. Both." He added glancing at Queenie who gave him a bittersweet smile in return. "You rest now, the two of you."

"Yes sir." Tina replied obediently, Queenie nodding silently in agreement. Percival turned around and walked away, soon imitated by the two sisters.

The day after.

Newt left hurriedly the DADA class to meet Leta for lunch and found her waiting for the stairs to move in the Great Hall's direction. As soon as he saw her, he couldn't help but think about what Queenie told him about Leta last time they had talked. She was his friend, his best friend and there was no way it would grow into something more, he knew it. She was really in love with his brother and it seemed mutual anyway. He thought bitterly that maybe it was about time to move on.

"Hello Leta." He greeted her, not quite looking at her though.

"Hello Newt." She replied with a smile, "did you know the girl you've been training actually passed the shortlisting?" She asked as the stairs finally allowed them to go in the right direction. He blinked with surprise for he was aware of the fact some Ilvermorny students managed to succeed, but he hadn't heard anything about Tina. "Ah, so you didn't. I guess you'll have to carry on with the private lessons after all."

"Well," he shrugged, "at least it'll allow me to -" He suddenly stopped mid sentence and froze, looking alarmed all of a sudden. "Um you - you go ahead, I'll join you later."

"Wait, what?" Leta eyebrows rose, taken aback by this sudden change of behavior.

"I - I just remembered I had something very important to do." He lied, very badly since he was unable to watch her in the eyes as he told her that.

"Newt, wait!" She tried but he curtly turned back without giving her the time to say anything more. She huffed with annoyance, but left for lunch anyway, used to that kind of unexpected decisions that Newt made sometimes. He was looking for something quite desperately in his dormitory but unfortunately for him, couldn't find it. He looked rather panicked, frantically rummaging through his belongings but failed again to spot what he was looking for.

"Bugger…" he mumbled to himself, very displeased by the situation.

An hour later.

The fourth years students were joyfully chatting as the exited their DADA class, Dumbledore remembering them to write a note about counter-curses before retiring in his office. Tina's day was over so she decided to stop by the Slytherin's dormitory to put her books away. When she arrived, she was surprised to find her belongings strewn all over the floor, as if someone had looked for something desperately. She frowned with annoyance facing the fact someone dared sticking his or her nose into her stuff without permission. While waving her wand to cast a Locomotor charm so her things lined up, she wondered if it had a link with the SWOT, maybe someone wanted to trick her somehow and she swore to clear it up as soon as possible. However, for now, she had to go for her sister was probably already eating in the Great Hall. She examined briefly the area to check if the person had stolen something but there were nothing missing apparently. She took the decision to keep that little misfortune for her, Queenie was already worrying enough about her, so there was no reason to tell her about this.

When Tina found her, she was eating, or rather stuffing her face with chocolate mousse, Tina looked at her with a hint of amusement in her eye. Her sister immediately handed her one when she remarked her presence.

"I wonder who makes all this food, it's so delicious!" She marveled, "Try some Teen!"

The brunette sat in front of her foodie sister, wondering if she had a black hole instead of a regular stomach. She began eating the chocolate mousse Queenie had given her when she stopped, noticing her sister was staring at her with surprise all of a sudden.

"You didn't wear it today ?" Tina frowned and mentally asked what she meant, "Your locket. You never part with it usually." Queenie explained, easily reading her sister's mind.

"What are you talking about ? It's around my - " she felt around her chest and suddenly froze when she realized her locket wasn't where it was supposed to be, "Oh no! I must have lost it during my last class and now it's closed!"

"Maybe you should talk to Professor Dumbledore tomorrow morning ?" Queenie seemed genuinely sorry.

"I can't wait until tomorrow! Someone could take it and keep it!" Tina bit her lower lip as she turned things over in her head, searching for a solution, she could only think of one, but it wasn't very good. "I've no choice, I'll try to get it back tonight."

"You're going to sneak in the classroom ?!" Queenie yelled with excitement. Tina hushed her with an alarmed look then silently nodded. "I'm coming with you."

"Oh no, you don't. You'll stay in your bed and sleep nice and easy. Am I clear?"

"But - "

"No 'buts' Queenie, stay out of this."

"Fine, but you have to tell me all about it later. Promise." Queenie said with a pout.

"Oh, alright."

Night time.

Tina waited for everyone to fall asleep, lying in her bed pretending to sleep as well. When she was sure she could sneak out without anyone noticing, she stood up slowly and carefully from her bed. She froze when she heard a voice mumbling incomprehensible things and glanced in its direction, plunged into the dark. She sighed briefly with relief when she realized it was just a fellow student talking in her sleep. She silently closed the door as she left the dormitory. The Slytherin Common room was quite frightening at night, though she usually found the atmosphere to be quite soothing.

She could hear the water through the Castle's walls. Sure that she was alone, she proceeded to leave the common room as discreetly as she could given the fact she was totally in the dark. She had considered using the Lumos spell but changed her mind quite fast, thinking wisely the spell could have attract the Caretaker's attention and she had to avoid it at all cost. So she was blindly strolling around, looking for the DADA classroom where she believed she had lost her precious golden locket. It was a hard task actually, as if because of the dark the Castle had completely changed its configuration. She hardly fell numerous time and yet, she was lucky Peeves didn't spotted her here. When she finally reached the room she was looking for, she remarked with surprise the door was already unlocked.

She entered just to jump backward with fear, bumping loudly against the door when a white light inside the classroom suddenly turned to her. She blinked several time, blinded by it, before understanding it was actually a Lumos spell. She frowned with bad humor as she recognized who was using it.

"You again ?!" She whispered with exasperation as a boy with reddish brown hair stood in the middle of the room, "Do you want us to get caught ? turn off that light now !" She resumed not waiting for an answer of any sort.

He complied immediately but it was too late, they could already hear footsteps in the hall not too far away. Tina watched Newt reproachfully and alarmed at the same time but he was currently examining his surroundings, as if looking for something. Then he spotted an empty wardrobe in a corner of the room and suddenly took her hand, forcefully dragging her with him into it. It was hardly big enough for two people but it was the first and only idea that crossed his panicked mind. They were actually so close to each other that he could feel her slow anxious breathing. He took advantage of the opportunity to take a closer look at her. She was very pale he noted, even in the darkness of the wardrobe, which made a quite fine contrast with her dark short hair and her brown eyes. He could feel his cheeks getting hot as he absent mindedly thought she was actually very pretty but the sound of a door abruptly opening interrupted his line of thought. Tina tensed visibly, holding her breath as she understood the caretaker had came in. He was whispering something but none of them could understand from where they were. Suddenly, the wardrobe's door opened on the go, revealing Rancorous Carpe pointing his wand towards them. Tina cried out with surprise, Newt flinched before instinctively putting an arm around her in a protective gesture. He released her nearly straightaway however as the Caretaker approached them menacingly.

"I'll have you expelled this time Scamander!" He shouted as he grasped the two by their clothes, dragging them forcefully to prevent them from escaping.

Some moments later.

Rancorous looked very satisfied as he explained the situation to the Headmaster, Mrs. Perkins and Mr. Graves, holding firmly the two students who were watching the floor with guilt. Mr. Black's face was becoming redder and redder with anger as the caretaker told him he found the two of them hiding in the wardrobe of the classroom. To Newt's great discomfort, Dumbledore had been summoned since it was his class that had been invaded. He was staring at the two with a slight frown but without any sign of anger or deception. Mr Graves, for his part, seemed utterly confused by Tina's action and was obviously waiting for an explanation but for now, Mr Black was scolding them roughly.

"Didn't your parents taught you to respect the rules?" Tina suddenly seemed even more ill-at-ease as he said that, "Besides, Scamander," Newt glanced briefly at the Hogwarts Headmaster before lowering his eyes again, his jaws clamped in anticipation, "How do you explain what an eighteen year old boy was doing in a wardrobe in the middle of the night alone with an underage girl?"

Newt widened his eyes as he understood the innuendo of the man while Tina didn't seemed to caught it. He opened his mouth to refute it but Mr. Black didn't give him the chance to as he resumed his reprimand.

"I thought I warned you Scamander that at the single and slightest lapse from you, you'll be expelled from the Castle faster than a Golden Snitch flies."

Newt looked alarmed by the situation now. Tina noticed his distress and decided to help him, or to try at least.

"It was my fault actually Mr Black." She suddenly spoke, surprising almost everyone in the room. Only Mr. Graves and Dumbledore seemed to expect her intervention. Mr Black stared at her severely, so did Mrs Perkins. Newt was gazing at her in disbelief for he didn't think she would intervene and take the blame for him.

"Then explain yourself, Tina." Mrs. Perkins said with a soft but strict tone.

"Well", she began hesitantly, "I've lost something very important to me in this classroom today and I couldn't wait for the day after to search for it so... Mr. Scamander found out and tried to convince me to go back to my bed but er… That's when Mr. Carpe came, we panicked and I forced him to hide with me in that wardrobe."

Mr. Black turned to Dumbledore, silently asking his opinion.

"Innocent until proven guilty." He shrugged nonchalantly.

"And what is that thing you've lost?" Black turned back to Tina, even more harsh. She mumbled something in reply but he didn't understand so he coldly asked her to repeat.

"My locket." She complied shyly, "I've lost my golden locket…"

The Headmaster looked even more exasperated if possible. He was about to yell at her more when Mrs Perkins and Mr Graves stopped him all of a sudden, asking him to have a word privately. They moved away a little to not be heard and whispered something to Mr Black who seemed less angry afterward.

"A detention." He informed as he came back, "for both of you. Dumbledore shall give you the detail tomorrow. Now go back to your dormitory at once and you better watch your step or else…"

Newt and Tina nodded nervously and turned around to take their leave. Tina carefully avoided his look for she could feel he was willing to make eye contact which disconcerted her more than she was willing to admit.

"Tina." He whispered so low she was probably the only one able to hear it. She blushed deeply and bit her lower lip. He was about to ask her to wait for him when Dumbledore called him back, putting an end to his attempt to talk to her.

"Mr. Scamander, may I have a word with you for a second please ?"

Newt glanced one last time at Tina's back and finally approached his teacher. They waited for everyone to clear the room then, as soon as they were alone, Dumbledore retrieve something from the drawer of his desk and showed it to Newt. The Niffler was looking at its owner innocently, as if he had done nothing wrong. Newt replied with an exasperated grimace before taking him.

"I know Tina covered you this time but you need to be more careful Newt."

"Yes Sir."

"Right. You can leave now. I'll meet the two of you tomorrow for your detention."

Newt took the pilfering creature firmly and made a brief sign with his head to say goodbye before exiting the room, calling it a night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> London's cases quote:  
> When Tina came back in Newt's house, she had the firm intention to make up with her beloved Magizoologist by telling him he was right and that she had been a blind fool. Though, she was surprised to find out he wasn't home, Jacob being the only one to welcome her.  
> "Newt ?" He said while stirring a vegetable soup he was preparing for dinner. "He told me he had to retrieve his passport at the Ministry for the incoming journey. Is there a problem with him Tina ?"  
> "No, I mean... We had a little fight yesterday and I acted like a total idiot." She revealed, looking down.  
> Jacob blinked with fair disbelief. He couldn't imagine Newt being angry and even less at Tina, it really was an absurd idea. He pulled a chair and gently invited the dark woman to take a sit. She gave him a weak smile before plopping herself down on it, completely spent.  
> "Tell me what happened." He said as he stirred his soup again.  
> She sighed. "It's so stupid, I mean I'm so stupid. Achilles wanted to have lunch with me and I thought it was because of Grindelwald or Queenie but he just wanted to get me in his grip again. Newt warned me, I didn't listened and now..." She didn't manage to suppress the wobble in her voice, affected.


	8. Detention in the Forbidden Forest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, sorry for being late but here is the chapter 8. For the soundtracks I advise you mainly "a window to the past" from the third movie. I hope you'll enjoy that one. Have a good read. HW.

Newt was preparing himself for the meeting with Dumbledore to set the condition of Tina and himself detention. He was alone in the dormitory, checking if the Niffler was still in its disillusioned cage. He noticed he was playing with something and turned the cage around to face him so he could see what he was holding in his little paws.

"What is it you have here little boy ?" He whispered curiously.

At first he thought it was a little golden egg but realised soon it was a locket. He widened his eyes when he recalled Tina was actually looking for hers in the classroom and lowered his eyes with guilt, understanding she had been in trouble because of him and that she took the blame for him on top of that. He tried to take the necklace from him but the Niffler squeezed it against himself possessively.

"You can't keep it. It doesn't belongs to you." Newt made a new attempt to grab it but the Niffler began stuffing it into his bottomless pouch. The young boy sighed before rummaging through his belongings. He then took a Sickle and scrubbed it to make it shine. Satisfied, he turned back to the Niffler and offered him the coin.

"Here. See ? It's shinier." The Niffler sniffed it with interest, then slowly approached his paw, but Newt moved it away out of his reach. "I'll hand you this if you give me the locket."

The little creature watched the coin, then the locket, then the coin again, weighing up the pros and cons. He finally decided to take the coin, dropping the locket in his cage. Newt couldn't help but notice it was slightly opened and considered watching inside but eventually chose to not to despite his curiosity, knowing people might found it too much intrusive.

"Good boy." He mumbled as he got the golden pendant back with haste before putting a disillusion spell on the cage again, ready to leave.

Dumbledore's office.

Tina and Dumbledore were already here when Newt arrived in the room. They had been waiting for him for ten minutes now and the young girl was awkwardly staring at a quill on the teacher's desk. For some reason, she feared that if she met his blue eyes he would be able to read her like an open book which she wanted to avoid. Having a Legilimens sister was already enough to her liking. She felt a little relieved when the reddish brown boy finally entered the office, apologising for being late. Dumbledore just smiled and invited him to take a seat next to Tina in front of his desk. He complied and silently sat, taking a short look at the brunette who was clearly avoiding his.

"So." Dumbledore began, "let's get to the point. Mr Graves, Mrs Perkins and myself though of a reasonable punishment, neither too much severe nor too much indulgent. Consequently, your detention shall consist in taking care of the Ilvermorny's Thestrals today." Newt huffed with irritation at the news to Tina's incomprehension. "They live in the Forbidden Forest and, unfortunately, the two males had a fight not long ago, they both need some healing." Dumbledore finished as if nothing had happened and ordered them to do it immediately. Tina stood up and left the office immediately, in a hurry to get this over with. Newt followed her with his eyes, taken aback by this fast departure, gave a short nod to say good bye and chased after her. When he caught her up, she was already outside, walking in the Forbidden Forest's direction without any hesitation.

"Tina wait please, there is something I need to tell you." He said as he came next to her and tried to stop her. She brusquely halted and turned to him, expectant and slightly annoyed. She was staring at him as if saying "What're you waiting for ?" so he resumed his talking nervously now that she was listening. "Well, first I - I wanted to thank you for what you did yesterday." He paused, looking for words, "It was hum… Very nice of you, to say the least." He glanced at her, gave her a shy smile and she seemed to soften in reaction.

"Yeah, don't mention it." She mumbled and looked away timidly, about to go back to her walking but he stopped her once again by grabbing her shoulder, confusing her.

"I also wanted to - to apologise for… Well for - "

"Believing I'll fail ? It's okay." She assured still not looking at him, "You aren't the only one to think so anyway." she shrugged trying to sound indifferent.

"Weren't." He corrected, "I - I don't think you'll fail. Not anymore at least." He added softly facing her questioning look. "By the way," he retrieved the locket from his pocket and handed it to her, "I believe it's yours."

"My locket !" She watched it with surprise before taking it back, "Where did you find it ?!"

"Actually it was - it was my Niffler. That pilfering pest steals anything shiny but I managed to have it back." He said ill-at-ease and expecting a row but she just sighed instead, looking relieved.

"Just… Try to keep an eye on it so it doesn't do it again."

"Yes of course." He hastened to reassure her. They resumed their walking, the weigh between them lifted.

"Hey Newt," she said after a moment as they approached the Forbidden Forest and he found himself surprisingly pleased to note she was finally calling him by his name like a friend would do, "why did you seemed so disappointed to take care of the Thestrals ? I thought you wanted to become a Magizoologist ?"

"Oh, I still hope to as a matter of fact." He informed her, "Thing is, Dumbledore purposely chose that kind of creature because he knew I wouldn't be able to observe them, which is mildly hilarious."

Tina frowned as they stopped near the Thestrals who were peacefully eating their daily meat's portion.

"Don't tell me you can't see them, they are just in front of us." She smiled, believing he was joking with her or talking in a figurative way maybe but she found herself to be wrong as he stared at her with surprise and empathy at his realisation she could actually saw them. "What ? Did I said something ?" She watched him quizzically.

"In fact, Thestrals are known to be invisible to anyone's gaze. Anyone but people who have seen Death, that is." Tina became suddenly paler after this statement and looked away, her eyes stinging. "Tina," he hesitated before carrying on, "It might not be my business but - that locket of yours, can you - can you tell me its containing please ?"

He believed she wouldn't reply as she stayed silent for some minutes, looking at the floor with grief but then he heard her talking again with a quiet and sad voice.

"My parents." He noted with regret her eyes were filled with tears, "It contains a picture of our parents. Queenie and I are orphans."

"Oh…" He looked down, "So sorry… How - How did it - "

"They died from Dragon Pox five years ago just before I entered school." She said, looking at the creature as if she was talking to it instead, her eyes gleaming with tears. "Please, don't tell anyone. Orphans are quite poorly regarded."

Newt didn't asked why, he already knew the reason. Orphans were often considered to be either some sort of disposable children or a burden to the society, costing a lot to everyone in the middle of a global No-Maj war that was awfully affecting the wizards as well. Some people were sad for them that was true, but most of them saw them as a waste of time and money.

"What do Thestrals look like ?" He asked instead of replying because there was nothing more to be said anyway. Tina sniffed and rubbed her wet eyes before approaching slowly one of them.

"Black, skeletal. They look like horses with bat's wings actually." She frowned slightly as if remembering something she disapproved, "People find them spooky or strange but I don't know. They're just… different, I guess."

"There is no strange creatures," Newt said with an half smile, "only blinkered people."

She glanced at Newt thoughtfully before staring at the creature again with a small smile. Newt already knew a few things about them: carnivorous but peaceful, the tamed one at least were, tough he couldn't say for the wild since they were quite rare in their natural state. He helped Tina the best he could. He handed her the healing potion Dumbledore had gave him for the occasion. Of course it would have been better to do it himself but since he wasn't able to see them, Tina had to do it. Fortunately, the two males Thestrals stayed quite calm and let Tina applied the beverage as if it was an ointment with his advice. She was diligent and gentle in her movements he noted.

"I think they're in rut." He stated as she tried the very best she could to cover the numerous wound with the liquid, "They want to mate." He explained further when he noticed Tina's lack of understanding. "That's why they're so aggressive towards each other."

"How can you tell ?"

He blinked at her, astonished by the fact she seemed genuinely interested by the subject. Most of wizards considered magical beasts to be bloodthirsty monsters and consequently either wanted to kill them as they would do for any threat or wanted to use them like some living weapons. Newt, on his part, saw magical beasts for what they actually were, thanks to her mother: other form of living being that deserved respect and peace.

"See," He began explaining as if he was giving her a lesson, "though every creature has its own personality, there are a few reason that could lead them into a fight: territory, progeny, self defense and reproduction. It's not that different for humans when you think about it." He finished with a snort, somehow amused by the statement.

"Wow" Tina sighed with a timid smile, still looking at the creature, "You really are passionate, aren't you ?"

"Well, my mom breeds Hippogriffs. Half eagle half horse creatures." He added when he met her quizzical look, "I used to help her in her task and uh - I found that actually, Beasts are easier to deal with than humans. You might want to add some more, the injuries have to be fully covered." Tina complied and spread the beverage on the invisible creature as Newt told her. "But uh," He resumed with an hesitant voice, not sure if he should told her all of that, "I know my family expect me to become an Auror, like my brother..."

"Your brother is an Auror ?"

"A very promising one, according to the Ministry..." He answered, looking down. Tina stared at him with a sorry look and felt the sudden need to comfort him. She knew all too well that awful feeling to be the black sheep of the siblings. Her sister was a beautiful girl in the making, a innate Legilimens with that, while she was a plain hardworking girl with no other advantage than her determination. She was said to be clever and strong but still.

"Well, for what it's worth, I think you'll be a very good Magizoologist, you should totally go for it." She said with a small smile while petting the creature's neck. She didn't dare crossing his gaze when he raised his eyes, speechless. He blinked with surprised then asked her why she wanted to become an Auror herself. "Papa was an Auror." She just informed without any farther explanation. The young reddish boy only nodded silently in reply, there was nothing else to add anyway. The rest of the detention went quite well and, even if he couldn't observe the Thestrals, Newt ended up quite satisfied to be able to take care of them with Tina.


	9. A task outside a task.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, chapter 9 out ! No real soundtrack for that one (maybe you can find one that would fit ?). I know you want some more interactions between Newt and Tina but be patient, it's a slow romance after all ! I hope you'll appreciate that one anyway, have a good read and a nice week end ! HW. Next week: London's cases.

After that detention, the two students had become more friendlier towards each other. Newt thought indeed she was actually a kind person hiding behind a bossy appearance while Tina found him to be honest and empathic; which was sufficiently rare to be underlined. Later this week, Mr Black called the participants unexpectedly in the Great Hall, telling them the time had come to prepare for the second task. The others students began murmuring as their comrades approached Mr Black doubtfully.

"Already?" Queenie whispered to Newt who was sitting in front of Tina before she stood up to join the others. "I thought there were two weeks before it!"

Leta, who was next to Newt, shrugged to indicate she was as surprised as her. Queenie, despite believing her sister could get through anything, rather prefer she had more time to prepare herself for the next task. It was indeed supposed to be more dangerous and harder than the first one. When the students finally reached Mr Black, they found themselves facing a table with seven different looking potions lined up on it, with a little piece of paper.

"As I called you by your name, you shall approach and tell me a number between one and seven. Then, you'll be given a potion and also a clue about its nature." He informed them solemnly. "However," he carried on, marking a theatrical pause, " all the potions are incomplete and your work will be to successfully gather the rest of the ingredients. Also, the second task is directly linked to the outcome so I might find out what is it if I was you."

He called the Hogwarts students first as he finished his explanations in an obvious attempt to give them advantage. Then Achilles made a step forward and chose the number four. Mr Black handed him a potion that resembled to mud to his great disgust. The second Ilvermorny student had a pretty gleaming blue potion. Tina was the last so she didn't have the choice actually.

"Porpentina Goldstein."

Leta and Newt glanced at Queenie curiously as they heard the full name of Tina for the first time. Queenie watched them with indifference and shrugged.

"She doesn't like her full name."

"Really?" Newt rose his eyebrows, "I think it's lovely though. I mean, it - it suits her, I guess." He added hurriedly when he remarked Queenie and Leta both staring at him, Queenie delighted, Leta perplexed.

Meanwhile, Tina faced Mr Black obediently, taking carefully the potion he was handing her. It looked rather plain, transparent just like water actually. Then he gave her the piece of paper containing the clue about the potion she had to complete.

"Well, it's up to you starting from now. You're allowed to talk about your potions between you but I wouldn't advise you to do so. Now go."

Tina put her potion in her Thunderbird cloak's pocket and sat back next to her sister in front of Newt.

"So, what do you have?" Queenie asked with a thrilled tone.

Tina was about to reply but Leta cut her short suddenly, putting her index on her mouth to intimate them to keep silent.

"Not here! People might hear you!" She stood up, telling them to follow her. They went behind her, leaving the Great Hall and passing by the moving stairs. She led them to the Fountain Courtyard. Then she turned to Tina, Newt and Queenie and asked the brunette to read aloud the clue, sure that they were alone. Tina opened it and complied.

_"If you don't want to end up_

_like a lame Duck,_

_You might need the backup_

_of a bit of Luck." ___

__The four students watched each other bewildered._ _

__"That's quite obvious..." Newt began._ _

__"Although potentially problematic." Leta finished with a sigh._ _

__Queenie, being only a second year, frowned with a quizzical look on her pretty face, utterly confused by the clue. "Felix Felicis ? What's this ?"_ _

__"Well, you might not know it yet. See, it's a potion that give extreme luck to his or her drinker." Newt explained as if giving a lesson, "Consequently, it is also known as - "_ _

__"Liquid Luck. But it's an extremely complicated potion to brew." Tina complained, "I don't know at what stage the potion is and, on top of that, I don't even know the ingredients I need."_ _

__Newt seemed suddenly very enthusiastic, watching her with resolution._ _

__"I think that might be our next lesson then." He stated, "After all, that is the task I was given by Dumbledore and Graves now, wasn't it?" Tina nodded slowly, taken aback by his sudden elation. "Besides," He resumed after a moment, "and without any pretention, I'm a quite decent potioner so therefore, I should be able to give you some good advice."_ _

__During all their conversation, Leta kept silent, not as thrilled as Newt to the idea of him giving her more lesson. She was watching Newt and Tina with a blank look, hiding the fact she was actually displeased by the situation. Newt wasn't usually the type of boy to look for anyone's company but hers. It bothered her a lot but chose to not talk about it with him for she thought it would pass eventually. So, she just made a forced smile when he looked at her as if silently checking on her opinion._ _

__"Well," she said a little stiff, "Good luck Tina. I'll see you around Newt. Bye Queenie." She tried her best to close her mind to the little Legilimens. Fortunately for her, the latter was too much occupied with her sister and Newt to notice Leta's discontentment. Newt, oblivious, shyly returned her smile while Tina lowered her eyes as she sensed she was bothering the Slytherin girl though she didn't know why._ _

__The day after._ _

__Tina had just finished her Transfiguration class when she found Newt waiting for her outside, not quite looking at her, or at anyone else actually. Surprised, she approached him slowly with her bag on her shoulder and books in her hands._ _

__" H- Hello." He greeted her hesitantly, "I thought that we could resume your private lesson now that we know more about the next task. I mean right now."_ _

__She watched him with big curious eyes before suddenly responding as she understood he meant immediately._ _

__"Er- okay, sure! I'm following you then."_ _

__He couldn't help but remarked she was being far more comfortable and natural with him since their common detention and was quite happy about it, explaining that fact by simple conscientiousness. He led her in the library and put a big heavy book on the table without any further ado. She glanced at it then at Newt._ _

__"That book," He whispered as he sat down in front of the opened book, "is an advanced potion book I have to study for my NEWT. It's the name of our last finals in Hogwarts, after the HOWLS." He explained noticing her frowning. "I know there is a chapter about Felix Felicis, however I think it might be more productive if you search for it yourself."_ _

__Tina stared at the book without a word and sat next to him, handling the big book and starting to flip through it obediently. Newt, on his part, began observing her without realizing it as she searched in the book the chapter about Felix Felicis. He could actually note her every reaction to the different potions she was currently discovering. He half smiled as she frowned with concentration or widen her eyes with awe, thinking absent mindedly she was very soulful and also wondering how he couldn't have remarked it sooner._ _

__"I've got it." She eventually said, pointing the page with her index, "but it's even more complicated than what I though." she rose her worried brown eyes to meet his gaze. He looked away timidly when he caught her eyes._ _

__'Well I- I admit it's maybe not the easiest potion to prepare and that the ingredients are a little hard to gather. Speaking of which, are you able to tell me the missing ones? "_ _

__Tina took the potion out of her cloak's pocket and examined it carefully, turning it between her fingers thoughtfully. According to the color of the beverage, she could tell with near certainty it was at its third stage._ _

__"The Murtlap's tentacle...?" She asked, unsure._ _

__"Yes, I think so too. Good thing I taught you to swim."_ _

__She grimaced, looking displeased by the idea to return in the Lake, even more now that she knew a Giant Squid was currently living into it._ _

__"What's a Murtlap anyway?"_ _

__"A rat. An aquatic rat. Sort of." He answered bluntly. "Not very dangerous if I am to believe books and classes about them."_ _

__"So, you never saw one?"_ _

__"Outside a classroom, no. Which is a pity really. Creatures should be observed in their natural environment if you ask me."_ _

__"Isn't it a little dangerous? " She remarked skeptical, "I mean, that is why classes are made for, don't you think ?"_ _

__"There is no class preparing to what is outside. In a class, creatures are tamed, peaceful, sometimes forced to be. This," He mumbled shaking his index in the air as if proving a point, "this is not what the Magizoology is about."_ _

__Tina silently nodded for she could admit he had a point now. She thought about her own situation: during her training, it was okay to fail, she just had to retry the day after. In a real fight, she would be severely injured or worse. Aurors were known to often die from a violent death, in America in any case. She realized the SWOT wasn't about winning or losing, not for her at least. It was about knowing if she was ready to accept the risks an Auror's life was including._ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> London's cases quote :  
> "What do you think the french creatures looks like ?"  
> "I don't know."  
> "Do you believed they have different division like us ?"  
> "I don't know."  
> "Will the Matagots remember us ?"  
> She suddenly stopped and rolled her eyes, half amused half annoyed. "I don't know Newt. You'll find out once you'll meet the french Magizoologist but until then, behave please."   
> "I'm sorry Tina, I'm just so thrilled. The Matagots seemed so interesting to study the last time we saw them." He told her as they went through the Magical statue leading to the wizarding part of the city.   
> "I suppose they are when they're not trying to kill us." She snorted.  
> "C'mon Tina," he frowned with disapproval, "They were just doing what they have to."  
> She sighed heavily, "If you say so."


	10. Research in the Library.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, so the relationship between Newt and Tina is progressing (slowly but surely). Leta is not very happy about it by the way. The SWOT is reveling itself to be more complicated than expected. For the soundtrack I advise you: The book (Half blood prince), Newt says good bye to Tina (FB and where to find them.) Have a good read. HW.

"I'm not sure it's a good idea."

Tina, Queenie, Newt and Leta were sitting together in the Great Hall, discussing about the fact she had to plunge in the Great Lake to flush a Murlap out and to steal some of its tentacles. Leta, contrary to Newt, still believed Tina couldn't make it and that she just had been lucky in the first task. She couldn't help but expressed her doubts aloud, which annoyed Queenie a lot for she believed in her sister's capacity very much.

"No offense," She said, "but there are a lot of things in that Lake that could injure you or worse."

"She can handle it!" Queenie retorted forcefully, showing an absolute trust in her sister. Leta sighed and turned to Newt instead as she understood it was useless to argue with the young Legilimens.

"Do you agree with her?" She asked, expecting him to help her. Queenie fixed Newt with severity, also expecting him to agree with her. He lowered his gaze, suddenly uncomfortable. He felt like a timid male dragon facing two confident females, known to be fiercer. He swallowed hard, uncertain about what to said.

"Well, I - " He stammered awkwardly, "It's not - "

Tina, who had been silent until now, came to his rescue, thinking it wasn't Newt to support the ceaseless argument between the two girls. Besides, she considered it to be her problem, not his.

"It doesn't matter if he agrees or not since there is no way I withdraw anyway." She shrugged nonchalantly, "Concerning that Murtlap thing, I guess I'll have to do with what I've got. I'm going to the Library, see what can I find about it. See you later." She took her belongings with the obvious intention to leave for the Library once again. She was about to do so when Newt called her back, stopping her mid-way.

"I er - I'm coming with you, if I may." He said with pleading eyes. He absolutely wanted to avoid facing the two girls who seemed already ready to reply something.

"Sure. I could use a hand." She half smiled, amused by his supplicating look, as if saying "please don't leave me with those two predators!". He didn't waste any minutes and followed her hurriedly. Queenie and Leta watched them exiting the Great Hall before exchanging a surprised look.

"Dung bombs in the Gryffindor's common room ?" Queenie suddenly asked with a cheeky smile, hoping Achilles would be in.

"You read my mind!" Leta replied to the young blond girl, their previous argument forgotten.

Meanwhile, Newt caught Tina up and walked next to her with his so distinctive gait.

"Thanks for helping me out of the situation. Your sister is really scary." He said without any shame despite him being almost eighteen and Queenie only twelve.

"Well, I didn't have a choice", Tina playfully sighed, "I need you a little longer so I couldn't let them eat you alive."

He blinked with fair surprise and stopped, looking at her as if she had become crazy all of a sudden.

"I'm practically sure cannibalism is largely unlawful." He frowned as if he didn't understand what she just told stopped and blinked in her turn before snorting, gazing at him amusedly.

"It's just an expression Newt." She resumed her walking. He followed her with his eyes with disbelief.

"Who uses that expression anyway?" He skeptically asked before going after her.

"Pretty much everybody."

They discreetly entered the Library to avoid bothering the other students who were working. As soon as they found a table to settle, they began searching for all the books they could about Murtlap but also about the Great Lake since, as Leta rightly said, others creatures were actually living into it and weren't necessarily the friendliest ones. Tina opened the first book which title was " _Dreadful Denizens of the Deep_ " and examined the summary.

"Newt", She whispered to attract his attention as he put another book on the table, "What do you think the Lake could have in it?" She wanted to focus on the main creatures that the Lake was containing.

He came next to her and leaned towards her to have a better look. He mumbled that, in addition to the Giant Squid, he was sure she might encounter Grindylows. Tina widened her eyes as she acknowledged the fact those creatures were considered to be potentially dangerous. They were indeed water demons classified as a dark beast because the Ministry of Magic reported them eating humans sometimes.

"I heard from Dumbledore and other students' testimony the Great Lake also houses a Merpeople's colony. It would be wonderful to study them but - Tina? Are you okay?" He asked as he noticed she had suddenly become paler than usual. She started and watched him, confused.

"Yes, sorry. That Grindylows you were talking about, are they hum... a lot too?" She looked far more scared to return in the Lake now.

"I really can't say, we don't know much about them actually. I'll have to fix that later too I guess."

"That's all well and good but what about me?" Tina rolled her eyes, "Is there a way to repel them?"

"Oh, a simple stunning spell should do. You can use it non verbally, right? It would be more -" He suddenly stopped mid-sentence, realizing they had forgot something very, very important.

"What?" Tina asked, baffled.

"How - How long do you think you can hold your breath underwater?" Tina slowly opened her mouth as she understood the issue she was going to have there, looking desperate.

"About one minute and ten seconds." She replied, demotivated. "Obviously I'll need something to be able to swim deeply underwater."Newt blinked with stupefaction, wondering how she could actually know that without having learnt how to swim before. He didn't expect such an accurate answer in fact. "Please tell me you know something that could allow me to? A charm or a transfiguration, anything?"

He stood up and began to pace up and down, turning things over in his head. He started soon to mumbled to himself as he searched for a way to breathe underwater.

"Not enough time for a potion... Gillyweed maybe?... No, definitely not, far too rare..."

He abruptly halted his reflection and disappeared behind the shelfs of the Library. When he came back more or less ten minutes later, he was holding three more books and put them on the table near the young girl. Tina gave a dubious look at the books then watched Newt who sat next to her.

"So, I assume you don't?"

He opened his mouth, evidently searching for something positive to say but closed it as he couldn't.

"This is balled up..." Tina mumbled looking down. She felt like a million kilometers from succeeding. She found the first task to be quite hard and yet, the second one looked so much worse for the preparations it needed were really complicated ! She couldn't imagine what was coming next.

"We'll find something, don't worry. You, you try to find a way to breathe underwater while I gather information on the beasts you might encounter in the Lake." He looked for her eyes, "Don't give up now, Tina."

Tina gave him a short nod, only half convinced by his words. They passed hours buried themselves in a load of books. They ended up borrowing the rest of the book and resumed their research in the Hufflepuff's common room for the Library had to close, the Librarian kicked them out anyway. It was fortunately almost empty, so they could work quietly. However, after thirty minutes or so Tina's eyes began to close slowly, her eyelids heavy. She eventually and rather rapidly fell asleep, her head resting on the opened book she was reading. Newt silently chuckled at the sight then checked the clock and, though it wasn't that late, decided they should call it a night. He took some minutes to watch her face with a shy smile. He tiredly thought she looked quite peaceful when asleep. Suddenly, without even thinking about it, he approached his hand and stroked her soft hair lightly, barely touching them but it sufficed to wake her up with a start. The young boy jumped in his turn and retrieved his hand abruptly as if burned before she could notice what happened, his face beetroot-red.

"Mercy Lewis!" She cried out as she woke up, making her book fall on the floor in the process.

"Ea - Easy Tina. You just fell asleep some minutes, that's all." He stammered, hoping she wouldn't remark his blushing,"I believe it's time to go to bed."

"But I still have to - " She tried but was cut by her own yawn.

"I'm sure this can wait tomorrow." He said as he picked the book up to put it back on the table, "You're asleep on your feet. Besides, you don't want to come face to face with Carpe now, do you?"

"Definitely not." She grimaced as she recalled their last encounter. "See you tomorrow Newt."

"Absolutely. Good - Good night Tina." He said as she stood up to leave the Common room. She hesitated some seconds before giving him a timid smile that he returned briefly before averting his eyes from her. She finally exited the room silently, aiming at the Slytherin's dormitory.

"Sleep well..." He whispered as soon as she closed the door behind her, disoriented by his own behavior.

He found her the day after in the Great Hall with her sister, eating her breakfast while chatting with her. He quietly sat next to the Legilimens girl, in front of the brunette. As he did so, Queenie immediately talked to him with a grin.

"What do you think Newt?" She asked with good humor, "You prefer pie or strudel?"

Newt blinked a few times in confusion before actually understanding her question.

"I really don't have a preference."

"I prefer strudel." She informed while Tina gave him a "My sister is a walking stomach" look, "I'm not, Teenie!" She scolded her sister, trying to look displeased but she only managed to make an amused smile, "Okay, maybe a little..."

Tina was about to reply when she abruptly froze as she saw Leta from a distance. The latter looked rather displeased to find Newt in Tina's company again. She got along quite well with Queenie but couldn't say so about Tina, even though she ignored why. An awkwardness settled between the four of them as she sat next to Newt, mumbling a greeting. Queenie spoke in an obvious attempt to soothe the tension.

"So, what did you guys found yesterday?"

"Thanks to the books I read, I was able to draw up a list of the most probable creature she might encounter in the Lake." Newt unfolded a paper to laid flat upon the table so the four could have a look at it.

"There is a Giant Squid in that Lake ?!" Queenie cried out in disbelief.

"Yes, but it's not the beast we should worried about in my opinion. The Grindylows and Merpeople are. As I said," He turned to Tina to speak directly to her, "you should be able to keep the Grindylows under control with a simple stunning spell. However, I wouldn't advise you to do the same with the Merpeople for they'll respond violently. You must make them understand you're harmless."

"A piece of cake." Tina grimaced considering the fact she won't be able to speak. "Well, at least I think I've found a solution for that breathing problem. A charm to be more specific." She said as she opened a green book called " _Chadwick's Charms, volume 7_ ", Leta and Newt exchanged a questioning look as they took a look at the unknown book, "Here," Tina resumed as she showed them the page that interested her, "There is that Scuba-spell. It's supposed to change my skin's properties so the gas exchange shall occur between the water and my skin instead of my lungs."

Queenie and Leta frowned, both unsure to understand the working of the spell.

"In other words, you'll be able to absorb the oxygen the water contains without being drowned. Like a... an earthworm! "

"I don't know if I should feel flattered but yes, that's the idea." Tina shrugged.

"It's brilliant." Newt watched her in awe, thinking that he might want to remember that spell for his later life as a Magizoologist.

"Tina's brilliant!" Queenie corrected with a worked-up smile. "What're we waiting for? Let's do it!"

"Wait a minute." Leta, who had been silent until now, spoke. "I think it would be wiser to try this out before the real thing, just in case it doesn't work."

The three others nodded in agreement before finishing their meals, chatting about less important subjects.


	11. Submerged by the cloudy Black Lake's water.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi ! Sorry for the late. A lot happened in my life.
> 
> Soundtrack: The locket, the black lake. Enjoy !

Leta, Queenie Newt and Tina immediately went outside just after eating. The sun was shining and the temperature was quite mild for a mid October. Consequently, there were also a lot of students who were working or simply enjoying the weather with them. Tina stared at them without a word but Queenie could tell just by seeing her face she was uneasy to test charm in front of so much people. So she decided to come to her rescue.

"It's a little crowded , isn't it ? wouldn't it be better to test the charm in a secluded place ?"

Leta watched her surroundings suspiciously, as if she feared they were spied on, before replying.

"I agree with Queenie, let's find another place." She turned to Newt who just shrugged in response.

The four chose to try on the Forbidden Forest's side. Newt and Leta were both practically sure it would be empty for the students were largely afraid to go near the Dark Forest as they heard strange stories about it. The Lake was partially plunged into the shadow of the big Castle, giving him a rather dark, threatening and gloomy aspect from this side. The surface of the water was smooth and black. Tina stared at it with a blank look as they approached it. She heard Leta telling something but didn't caught what, absorbed by her contemplation. She started when Queenie called her just to notice the three of them were staring at her with perplexity.

"Are you sure you want to try it now Teen ?" Her sister asked worriedly, "You seem... elsewhere."

"What ? No, it's okay." She took her wand and pointed it toward herself with hesitation. Newt swallowed hard and the two other girls shivered at the sight. It's was indeed a strange and unsettling experience to witness another Witch aiming at herself with her own wand, as if she wanted to hurt herself. She slowly closed her eyes as she felt the tip of her wand against her chest, obviously focusing of the effect of the charm. For some reason, she felt her heart going faster all of a sudden. She imagined her skin was now able to respire the air freely, without needing to breathe by the nose or the mouth.

" _Anapne Nautika. _" She whispered and the next second, she could feel with a cold chill the air circulating through her veins directly, her lungs becoming suddenly useless. She opened her eyes to noticed Newt, Leta and Queenie were watching her expectantly, a little tensed. Queenie was the first to speak.__

__"So ? How do you feel Teenie ?" She asked impatiently._ _

__"It's weird...But I think it worked."_ _

__She focused again and suddenly stopped breathing normally, blocking her trachea to prevent the oxygen from passing. Newt widen his eyes as he noticed her chest had stopped its respiratory motion leaving her completely inert. He thought with anxiety she actually looked like a living dead and it disrupted him a lot. She became a little more pale for she noticed her clothes were bothering her in the process._ _

__Leta gestured her hand up and down Tina's face. "Wow, this is impressive ! you're not breathing at all."_ _

__"It's not over, I still have to try it in the water."_ _

__"Not too long Teenie okay ?" Queenie asked with obvious concern in her soft voice._ _

__"Not more than five minutes." Tina reassured her little sister with a small smile._ _

__She came closer to the Lake's banks before turning around, "I'll have to change or my clothes shall prevent me from breathing enough." She then faced the Lake again and waved her wand to transfigure her garments into an Ilvermorny swimsuit. Feeling observed and uncomfortable with that fact, she didn't wasted any more time and went into the water. It was far more cold than the last time and she found herself hissing and stiffening in reaction. She clenched her teeth as she struggled against the sudden impulse to ran away._ _

__"Are you okay Tina ?" She heard Newt asking behind her, speaking for the first time since they arrived here._ _

__"The water is a little chilly." she nervously nodded without turning around. When she was finally half submerged in the water, she took a big, although useless, breathe to gather her courage and plunged her head underwater in one quick motion. At first, the cold water stunned her a little like an electric shock would but soon she noticed everything was seemingly fine. The air was still flowing through her blood, making her skin beat in unison with her heart. She absent mindedly thought it was a good way to keep an eye on her heart rate actually. After a moment though, she became numbed because of the cool water and consequently decided it was about time to surface. Shaking, her hair stuck to her face, she laboriously came back towards Newt, Leta and Queenie. The latter seemed really concerned as she spotted her but to her great surprise, Leta was the one to come towards her. She encircled her with a towel before helping her going out of the water._ _

__"You gave your sister the willies. A few minutes more and she would have brought you out of the Lake herself." She mumbled._ _

__"Did I stayed that long ?" Tina blinked in confusion._ _

__"Almost ten minutes !" Queenie cried out in anger while rushing at her. Newt, on his part, was absolutely unable to watch her and was as a consequence staring at the floor instead, ill at ease. "I thought you were in danger Tina, it was supposed to be two or three minutes, not longer ! Have you seen your face ?! Your lips are blue !"_ _

__At this mention, Newt gave her a very quick look, just to check if she was okay, before timidly averting his eyes once again._ _

__"Yeah sorry, I er, I didn't realized I stayed that long. At least, I know it's working now." She told apologetically to her sister just to shout with surprise when she suddenly felt a stream of hot air coming from behind her. Leta was currently using a charm to warm and dry her._ _

__"That is for worrying your sister." She said, winking at Queenie who smiled mischievously in response. Newt even made an amused smile, though he was still looking at the floor._ _

__"Yeah, very funny." Tina rose her eyes to heaven and crossed her arms as her hair covered her face comically. "Stop already, I'm dry !" She discovered hot air wasn't pleasant when using underwater charm, despite provoking her comrades' hilarity. "Finite." She put an end to the spell then used her wand to get dressed into her uniform. "So when are we doing the real snorkeling ?" She turned to Newt with an expectant look._ _

__"As soon as possible for the water's temperature won't get any hotter. Tomorrow afternoon, if it's okay with you, that is."_ _

__"So soon ?!" Queenie said unpleased._ _

__"I'm ready." Tina answered firmly, ignoring her sister's remark. The latter opened her mouth to protest but Tina silenced her with a simple but severe look that told her she had to stay out of this in a very Mr Graves fashion, Queenie found._ _

__"Queenie," Leta gently put her hand on the blond girl's shoulder in a soothing gesture, "maybe it's better if you stay with me while they do what they have to do."_ _

__"Good idea. That way, you won't worry too much right ?" Newt insisted and Leta nodded quickly. In fact, they didn't wanted her to lose her calm in the middle of Tina's mission. Queenie, a little upset, turned to her sister her pleading eyes._ _

__"It's for the best. There is no reason to be afraid." Tina's words didn't seemed to calm her little sister so she insisted. "Look, it went well until now, it won't change. Besides, you still have your homework to do if I'm not mistaken."_ _

__Queenie lowered her eyes sadly before staring at her sister with a suspicious look on her innocent face._ _

__"You promise you'll be careful ?"_ _

__"Very. Like always." Tina swore with a reassuring smile she only showed to her sister. "Now go, i'll join you later in the Great Hall, Okay ?" Queenie nodded in response before turning tail and leaving in the Castle's direction. Tina sighed heavily, throwing her head back tiredly before speaking to Newt again who had been watching the scene silently with Leta until now._ _

__"We'll have to prepare a way to warm me up or I'll die from exposure." She informed bluntly Newt as if it was an insignificant detail. "I'll see you tomorrow." Newt and Leta exchanged a surprised look as she turned around in her turn aiming at the Castle's entrance._ _

__"I didn't realised she was that pragmatic." Leta muttered, following her with her eyes._ _

__"You have no idea." Newt replied impressed._ _

__The day after - Just before Tina's task._ _

__Queenie gave a last hug to her dear sister as she prepared herself for her mission in the Black Lake._ _

__"Come on Queenie," She chuckled facing her sister's behavior despite returning her embrace, "I'm not going to some deadly battlefront ! "_ _

__"I know Teenie, I just can't help it." She said with teary eyes, "I'm so pathetic. I'm the one crying while you're the one who - "_ _

__"shh, I don't want to hear any of that nonsense. Now off with you, Leta is probably already waiting for you. You have some practice to do in charms, don't you ?"_ _

__"Okay. See you later I guess." She huffed with annoyance and left, leaving Tina alone. She closed her eyes and sighed heavily to gather her courage._ _

__"Okay Tina." She mumbled to herself with determination as she opened her eyes, "Let's get this over with."_ _

__Meanwhile, Newt was already outside, feeling so excited and anxious at the same time that he couldn't sat down. He was waiting for her pacing back and forth like an impatient beast. Though they had apparently everything planned, he couldn't help but have a bad feeling about this. His head was full of possible issues that might occur, the worst being that Tina could get killed. On top of that, the weather wasn't as clement as the day before. It was cloudy, as if about to rain, but they had to do it before the Lake froze, as it did every winter until now. Now he was realising plainly why the SWOT was known to be a very dangerous tournament. Even outside of the different task given to the participants, they had to risk their life just in order to prepare them. He was on the verge of telling Tina to renounce and negotiate a withdraw with Mr Black when she arrived, looking composed and determined. It somehow sufficed to calm him down a little._ _

__"Ready ?" She asked him with a grave tone._ _

__"Not so sure."_ _

__She just had made a few step when Newt stopped her by calling her, "Before - before you go in, I thought about something." She patiently waited for him to continue. He pointed his wand towards her and, though she frowned a little, she didn't moved an inch. He casted a rode made of light that automatically wound around her thin wrist. "That way, if you're in trouble or if you need me for any reason, just pull it and I'll be at your side in a jiffy."_ _

__"Thank you." She gave him a nervous smile and he found himself very flustered by it. She moved forward with a firm step and stopped at the Lake's banks. She first transfigured her clothes into her usual Thunderbird swimsuit, then used the underwater spell, pointing her wand against her chest the same way she did before. Newt remarked she was trembling like a leaf, though he couldn't said if it was with apprehension or with cold. She was half in the water when he gave her a last recall._ _

__"Remember, leave the Merpeople alone and stun the Grindylows on sight." She silently nodded, ready to plunged deeper in the Lake. "Tina." She turned around to face him and met his eyes, "Be careful." She faced the Lake again and finally went deeper in the calm water, firmly holding her wand._ _

__The first thing she noticed was that the Lake wasn't as empty she thought it would be. There were indeed fishes swimming in small group between long and rippling seaweed coming from the bottom of the Lake. They seemed to be regular fishes to her great relief, not some dangerous, aggressive creature ready to seize her. However, no Murtlap on the horizon but she expected it to be quite hard to drive out since according to the book Newt had read, it looked like an ordinary Sea Anemone. She decided she would try her luck deeper in the water. The bottom of the Great Lake was even less welcoming for it was dark, colder and less lively. She began swimming at the floor level, watching carefully, seeking for anything that could be a Murtlap in disguise. She abruptly turned around when she believed she heard a sound coming from behind, her wand rose and ready to strike. However, she thought she was imagining things as she found out she was alone and resumed her searching without feeling really safe either. After some moments, she spotted carcasses and leftovers of dead crustaceans drifting here and there. This encouraging clues restored her confidence and she immediately followed the lead, unaware that something was discreetly going after her in the darkness. Her efforts were eventually rewarded as she found a anemone like rat peacefully resting on the floor of the Lake. She approached slowly the creature in order to steal some of its tentacle. She was so focused with her task she didn't felt something grabbing her leg and started when tiny teeth nibbled her calf. She turned abruptly around to discover the culprit. She was surprised to come face to face with a round Yellowish fish that was cheekily staring at her with his bulging eyes. It had two long webbed legs and was seemingly swimming thanks to them. After some seconds, the creature approached the young girl and tried to cling to her arm with its long legs. Tina moved backwards and waved her hand to shoo it away but the globular fish insisted as if it had a grudge against her in particular. Irritated by the annoying creature, Tina pointed her wand at it and, with a bright blue flash, the fish suddenly froze before drifting away. She followed it with her eyes, a satisfied look on her face. She turned around and suddenly bumped into a tall scaly figure staring at her with a menacing look. The creature facing her had long and wild hair as well as a greyish skin that gave it an unhealthy appearance. It looked barely human and it had a fishtail instead of regular legs. It was accompanied with four medium octopus like creature, green with what resembled to sharp little horns on their head. She recognized them as the water demons called Grindylows. They were growling at her, producing bubbles in the process. Tina could had find it funny if she wasn't so scared. She rose her wand instinctively, aiming at the tall figure who frowned even more, obviously outraged by her involuntarily threatening gesture._ _

__"It is our territory, Witch ! " The mermaid said with anger in an rough English, "You not welcome here ! Go away or we hunt you by force !"_ _

__Tina shook her hands to show her she wasn't a menace but, to her great surprise and distress, her wand suddenly and accidentally threw a Stupefy at one of the near Grindylow who fainted afterward. The Mermaid reacted straight off._ _

__"Attack ! " She ordered to the three other sickly green creatures who snarled before rushing toward the young girl. Tina rose her wand to try to stop them but one of them managed to deeply bit her hand before she could do anything. Panicked, the brunette grabbed the beast's head in an attempt to break its grasp but it only aggravated the wound._ _

__"It is no use. Grindylows not let go when biting prey. You finish eaten alive." The Merperson sniggered._ _

__Tina struggled against a second one that gripped her head from behind, pulling her hair violently in the process. She then remembered the rope tied to her wrist and moved to pull it but the Mermaid immediately understood it was meant to call for help._ _

__"Rip ! " She ordered to another Grindylow, the biggest one, who executed her demand obediently in one swift movement by cutting it with its sharp little teeth. The rope sank in the bottom of the Lake, useless. Still determined to get rid of the over aggressive creature, and thanks to the strength of despair, Tina violently punched the head of the Grindylow that was currently biting her, making it lose its grip. She then took this opportunity to stunned the other before catching with a magic rope the still sleeping Murtlap. She stole some of its tentacle without any warning and released it straight away. The rat like creature cried out consequently and retreated as soon as possible, scared. Tina, on her part, tried to escape her opponents but they quickly caught her up and grabbed her by the legs this time, digging their hooked claws in her tender flesh. She turned around to stunned them again but was surprised to find that they suddenly looked utterly terrified and left without further ado. Even the Merperson fled with what seemed to be fear in her yellow eyes. Flabbergasted and relieved, she tossed and turned just to discover what had afraid the creatures. The Giant Squid was observing her with curious eyes, its eight long arms and two tentacles graciously undulating as he approached her. Unable to control her fright, she opened her mouth and breathed in, as if she was about to scream._ _


	12. Always alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know you guys aren't going to appreciate Leta's behavior in that one BUT, she's not bad. She's just scared and she's going to fix that later. No real soundtrack for that one. Good reading. HW. 
> 
> Also: Yes the Giant Squid is a Supersquid, saving people and all !

Newt was waiting patiently with a warm towel along the Lake's banks, sitting on the wet ground as it began to pour down. Tina had left for something around twenty minutes already but it seemed like hours to him for he thought she was taking a lot more time that what he had expected. Sure, Murtlap were known to live in the bottom of Lake and Sea that could take some time to reach, but still. He vainly tried to convince himself everything was fine, that she was probably on her way back, but started when he suddenly felt the light rope shaking furiously some seconds before going still. He jumped up with panic as he realised Tina was in trouble down there and need his help immediately. He began rewinding the rope frantically, finding with anxiety it was far too much light to be still linked to the young girl's wrist. At one point, he wasn't surprised to discover the rope had been cut, or rather tore away, by a beast's bite considering it was covered by sludge and what seemed to be greenish saliva. Utterly horrified, he desperately put his hands in his hair in order to calm down and find a solution to get Tina out of that situation quickly. Given the time he took to pull the cord up, he supposed she was without a doubt near the bottom of the Lake, which meant it would be a waste of time to join her underwater by swimming. Since he couldn't reach her, he concluded the solution was to attract her out of the water with magic. He pointed the wand towards the Black Lake, his hand trembling a little with stress.

"Accio Golden Locket !" He shouted, aware that using the spell that way was dangerous but also that he hadn't any other choice.

He waited some seconds, unmoving, just to widen his eyes with shock as he noticed the summoning spell had failed. He abruptly dropped his wand on the ground and removed his Hufflepuff cloak, ready to plunge, hoping she would still be alive when he would find her but suddenly halted with a start when a huge creature came to the surface of the Lake, apparently holding carefully something in its tentacles. The Giant Squid approached the bank as close as he could and dropped off with careful precaution what he was carrying some minutes before. Newt rushed towards it as he recognised Tina getting back laboriously on her feet.

"Tina - " He began with concern but was cut by the girl.

"The Mermaid attacked me with her Grindylows ! I - I - My wand, it was an accident !" She was hyperventilating, "The Giant Squid ! It- it saved me and - "

"Calm down Tina !" He shouted, watching her with worry as he noticed she was soaking wet and seemed frozen, given her blue lips. He turned around and grabbed the warm towel he had prepared to wrap her with it. "Are you injured ?" He asked as he remarked some bleeding wounds.

"Ah, It's nothing really. The Grindylows bit me, that's all." She said as she regained composure before handing him a handful of Murtlap's tentacle. "Luckily, I managed to take some. I hope I didn't hurt it too much though." She added still panting a little, earning a curious yet pleased look from Newt. He put the tentacle in an empty bottle and turned around aiming at the Castle's direction. Tina waved her wand toward herself to put an end to the breathing charm.

"I think we should go back to the Castle, you need - " He suddenly stopped and turned back to her as he heard a bump. He saw her on her hands and knees, coughing and spitting water, her respiration labored. "Tina !" He rushed at her. "I - I don't understand, you used the spell so how..." Tina rose her unfocused eyes and tried to answer but coughed even more instead, hardly breathing now. She collapsed on the ground, practically unconscious. Newt, utterly panicked now, rose his wand and casted red sparks, a signal that indicated an endangered student to any teacher around. The only thing Tina heard before fainting was Newt repeating her name with urgency and worry in his voice.

When the young girl woke up some hours later, she was lying in a bed in the nurse's office in a dizzy state. She immediately remarked her younger sister at her side, asleep with her head resting on the edge of her bed. Truth was she had been waiting for her waking up for hours now. She sat up straight with a start as she felt Tina's hand playing with her blond curls. She watched her agape, her eyes full of tears.

"Teenie !" She shouted, pouncing on her to hug her before bursting into tears. "I thought - I thought you'll never come back !"

"There, there Queenie. It's over now, I'm okay." Tina reassured her while stroking her hair tenderly.

"You - You had promised - " The blond whined with a wobble in her voice.

"I know, I tried but there was an accident and..." Tina lowered her eyes with guilt, "I'm so sorry... I - I should have been more careful..." She felt her eyes stinging with tears in her turn but held them back, unwilling to cry in front of her baby sister.

"I wasn't the only one worried about you." Queenie sniffed, "Mr Graves was too. I have to tell him you're awake actually."

Queenie stood up, gave her sister a kiss on the forehead and turned around, ready to leave. However, after a few step Tina called her back.

"Hum, " Tina hesitated, wondering if she should asked her or not that question. Her Legilimens sister read her mind and answered before she could even formulate a sentence though.

"I didn't saw him. But it doesn't mean he didn't came !" Queenie hastened to add.

"Never mind..." Tina looked down again, feeling empty all of a sudden. Queenie opened her mouth, looking for something nice to say but closed it with a sigh eventually. She told her big sister good bye and left to inform Graves she was awake. Once alone, Tina began to brood, wondering why Newt didn't took any news from her. The only reasons she could think of were either he couldn't care less or he was mad at her for some reason and consequently didn't want to see her or even hear about her. Thoughtful, she didn't noticed Graves entering the Nurse's office and started when she noticed his arrival.

"Mr Graves - "

"Thanks Morrigan you're safe." He sighed with relief, "Now explain me what happened in that Lake. I want every single details. What were you doing ?"

She explained with a composed voice that in order to brew the Felix Felicis potion, she had to gather ingredients herself, the first one being Murtlap Tentacle. Then she told him she had an accident involving several Grindylows and a Merperson during her searching for the rat like creature.

"I don't know why but my wand threw a spell on its own... Is that possible Sir ?" She watched him perplexed.

"Some wand are known to be temperamental and as a consequence prone to provoke accident, especially when their owners loose self control or are under a very high strain. Let me take a look at your wand."

Tina took it on the nightstand and handed it to him obediently. He slightly frowned as he examined it carefully, turning it to see its every angle.

"Willow wood with a white river monster spine core. Elegant and powerful, rather disciplined." He rolled the wand between his fingers, understanding too well why the wand had chose Tina, before giving it back to her. "I think you just unintentionally threw a spell, that's all."

She nodded before resuming her story. Then again, she asked him why the spell she used didn't worked fine, eager to know what happened, as if it was a plain lesson.

"Actually, the charm was perfect, if it wasn't you would have drowned, simply as that. Think about it, it's a spell that allows you to breathe underwater by the skin, Right ?" Tina nodded, waiting, "Then what do you think happen when you swallow or inhale water under the spell ?"

"Well, " She frowned, obviously reflecting on it, "I can't possibly be drowned... but if I cease the charm it become possible since my lungs are full of water, even if I'm on dry land, am I wrong ?"

"That's exactly what happened. Always learn from your mistakes Tina." He seemed rather satisfied with her answer so he decided to leave her alone. "I think you shall be allowed to leave the bed soon but you need to be more careful next time."

Mr Graves was about to close the door behind him as he took his leave when he suddenly remember he forget to ask her something.

"By the way, did you managed to get what you needed ?"

"Yes Sir."

"Good job Tina." He said with a proud smile he vainly tried to hide before leaving for good. Once the door closed, Tina made a bright grin, delighted.

Meanwhile, Newt was aiming at the Nurse's office, determined to check on Tina despite the fact that until now he had been unable to face her, wrongly thinking it was his fault she was injured. He found himself quite surprised to bumped into Leta on his way to the infirmary. She was apparently waiting for him, leaning against a wall with crossed arm.

"Hey Newt, are you up for studying with me ? I have a paper to write on the Whomping Willows for next week and I thought you could give me a hand." She asked with a friendly smile.

"Sorry can't." He answered not quite looking at her, "I need to go in the Nurse's office. I heard Tina was awake so I - "

"Tina again ?" Leta cut him exasperated, her smile suddenly gone, "Didn't you saw her enough already ? I mean, you're acting as if she was more than a random student you're giving lesson to. We barely saw each other lastly !"

"That's - that's not true Leta, we're still eating together every day and speaking together too -"

"You're kidding ! You're always talking about her ! "Tina did this, Tina said that", what about me Newt ? Is she your friend ? did she replaced me ?"

"N - No, of course not !" He shouted uncertain, his cheeks bright red, "I - I'm just helping her, like a teacher would, nothing more !"

"Liar. Recently, it's as if you cared more about her than me while I'm your best friend since many years ago."

"Y - You're wrong I don't care - "

"Oh really ? Then why are you passing so much time with her ? And don't tell me it's because of the lesson, I won't buy it Newton."

"Yeah, well nobody is forcing you to believe it but that's the truth." He retorted with bad humor, annoyed by her behavior. He didn't thought she could be jealous and he found her to be rather unfair. She wasn't in love with him but still she was willing to keep him for herself alone, even as a friend. She immediately guessed his thought and stared furiously at him in reply.

"Know what ? Forget it. I'm going alone." She rolled her eyes with anger and left, leaving him alone and upset.

What Newt wasn't aware of unfortunately, was that Tina wasn't in the Nurse's office anymore and actually happened to be in the wrong place in the wrong time, that was to say not far from them but out of sight so she had heard a big part of their squabble. She didn't meant to spy on them obviously and now she even wished she hadn't for she felt suddenly very alone and insignificant. She felt like crying, really, but told herself she couldn't, that she had to stay strong no matter what happen. After all, she had been alone from her parent's death and until now, so why would she cared about a boy she just met ? He didn't give a toss about her ? Fine, big deal ! She was looking for him, that was true, but decided to return to her dormitory instead to calm down before Queenie could notice something was wrong, even if she knew she would have to face him soon somehow since he owned her Murtlap tentacle and that he was still giving her private lesson anyway. But for now, she needed a break.


	13. Conversation with a Centaur.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey ! Sorry it's been a while. A lot going in my life so not enough time to write. I hope you'll enjoy !  
> Have a good read. HW.

Since that little event Tina accidently witnessed, she felt rather down and avoided Newt like Dragonpox. Her next lesson was soon but she didn't felt like having it though. She also tried to hide her turmoil from her sister but in that state it was useless for she was utterly unable to lock her mind. Consequently the blond girl eventually learned what was saddening her sister. As she expected her to be, she became mad at both Newt and Leta.

"What a cheek !" She cried out.

"It's my fault Queenie." Tina simply stated, trying to sound indifferent, "it's nothing really, just a misunderstanding."

"Of course not ! You took the blame for him last time with that Niffler and this is how he is thanking you ?! And Leta ! I thought we were friend !" She added with a high pitch voice, clearly upset.

"He's just here to give me private lessons, nothing more. I was the one being stupid enough to thing we could be friend. I'll just resume my lesson as if nothing happened."

"But - "

"I'm okay with that Queenie, really." She made a forced smile to reassure her sister, only half convincing. "Do your homework, I have to ask him the Murtlap's tentacle for the potion."

She left the fountain yard where they were currently sitting without waiting for an answer from her sister who watched her with worried eyes. She found him some moments later near the Forbidden Forest, apparently busy studying what seemed to be horse prints on the dirt. He didn't noticed her approach as she came from behind.

"N - Mr Scamander, what are you doing ?" She made him jump with surprise.

"Oh, Tina, good timing." He told her as he didn't heard her calling him by his last name, oblivious to the fact their relationship just happened to take a great step back. "Come here, tell me what you see."

He waited for her, still crouching on the floor but eventually turned around as she didn't moved an inch. She averted her gaze as their eyes met, looking troubled. She thought bitterly he didn't even looked concerned about her or anything.

"Mr Scamander," This time he caught it clearly and he slightly tilted his head in confusion as a consequence, "Would you mind giving me the Murtlap's tentacle please ? I need it so I can practice preparing the potion."

She waited patiently for him to comply. He blinked then awkwardly stood up and approached in a rush.

"Yes, uh, sorry." He said, not quite looking at her all of a sudden, "Talking about that, uh, I was - I was wondering if you'll agree to hum... Well to give me some of the tentacle ?" He glanced at her hopefully and expectantly. "See, I - I'd like to have a look on them, if I may." He added.

She watched him blankly, feeling once again empty. She considered refusing, telling herself it would be a good revenge, but she finally agreed for it wasn't his fault if she imagined things. Mr Graves wouldn't approve her doing that anyway.

"Sure." She simply replied instead, earning a shy smile from the boy and she forced herself to return it. "Is it okay if it's just a copy though ? I'd like to keep the original for the brewing."

"Of course but, I'm not really good at multiplying charm."

"Leave it to me."

He handed her the bottle containing the red tentacles. She took it and put it on the floor before aiming at it with her wand, looking confident.

" _Geminio. _"__

__With a flick of her wand, the bottle produced several copy of itself and its contents in a tinkle, the original impossible to recognize. Fortunately, Tina had memorized its spot and retrieve it straight away. She pointed her wand toward the original bottle again and used a color changing spell to distinguish them._ _

__"Well, that's clever." He complimented her. "Do - Do you want to study them with me ? I mean, after our lesson."_ _

__"It's okay Mr Scamander, I don't want to bother you more than needed." Newt opened his mouth to refute her statement, now fully aware something was off. "Besides," She added before he could said anything, "I have to gather the other ingredient and, since the next one should be easy to find, I won't need your help this time."_ _

__"Oh. Well, if it's what you want, I'm okay with it I suppose." He felt disappointed though he couldn't really say why. He thought that maybe he wanted to work with her after all, she was indeed clever, handy and meticulous. Really, he could have used her help actually, or that was the reason he found to explain why he was so miffed by the fact she refused to do so. Nothing more. "Okay, so uh. Today I shall teach you some tracking methodology." He resumed as he tried to put his own turmoil aside. He asked her to follow him and showed her the print he was previously examining before her arrival. It was big and deep, meaning the creature who did it was of a tall high. Once again, Newt crouched on the floor and demanded Tina what she thought about it._ _

__"It looks like a horse's spoor."_ _

__"What else ?"_ _

__She crouched in her turn to have a closer look, slightly frowning as she reflected on what else she could tell about it. She noticed it was aiming at the Forbidden Forest and that the next one was surprisingly far from that one, meaning the beast was a quite good jumper. Meanwhile, Newt was looking at her out of the corner of his eyes, wondering why she was so distant today to the point of calling him Mr Scamander again. He started a little when she stood up abruptly and walked with a firm step toward the Forest._ _

__"It went in the Forest." She told him without turning around, staring at the Forest instead, "I don't think it's a regular Horse though, is it ?"_ _

__"What gave it away ?" He asked her curiously._ _

__"I don't think Horses have hair like this." She picked up a long and fine blond strand of hair. It was brilliant and silky, shining like gold. Tina found it quite beautiful and wondered consequently what type of creature could have such wonderful hair._ _

__"Well," Newt began, unexpectedly not as admiring as her, "It's a Centaur's hair, if I'm not mistaken. For some unknown reason, one of them left the Forest recently. We're going to find him."_ _

__"A centaur ? What is that thing ?" She said as she followed him in the forest, noticing some others footprints on the ground._ _

__"Never ask that in front of them," Newt suddenly snorted, "It might be the last thing you do. Centaurs are half humans half Horses beings. They are as intelligent as proud and they have a slightly complicated relationship with our kind, to say the least."_ _

__"Do they want to kill us ?" She watched him with big scared eyes as he examined another golden strand of hair on the floor._ _

__"Frequently." Then he noticed her apprehension and hurried to reassure her, "Don't worry, the horde living here is not that bellicose toward us. Besides, I think there is just one of them so we can just observe him from a distance."_ _

__"How do you know it's a he ?"_ _

__"Females Centaurs are rarely seen, I don't even know if there is one here. I'm ninety five percent sure it's a Male."_ _

__After a moment of hunting the creature down, they eventually spotted him not far from the edge, apparently alone. Newt grabbed Tina's arm to intimate her to crouch behind a tree with him so they could study the Beast without him being aware. She complied, placing herself in front of the boy to have a better look. From what they could see, he was a handsome Centaur with a bright palomino coat and long, wavy blond hair cascading down his naked back with elegance. He was busy picking berries and sages, shaking peacefully his shining tail. Tina watched him in awe, completely taken aback by his nobility. She was unable to take her eyes off him even. Newt, on his part, was examining him carefully, mentally noting every detail he could manage to when he noticed Tina's look. Somehow, it bothered him to witness her staring at someone like this, even if he was indeed a beautiful Centaur he admitted. After a moment, he wanted to stood up for his legs were sore because of the crouching but in the process, he bumped into a small branch he didn't saw before, shaking its little leaves which made a soft sound. Tina suddenly rose her head to meet his eyes and saw that he had froze, a tensed look on his face. The Centaur stayed still in his turn, as if listening his surrounding or waiting for something to happen, before slowly moving away deeper in the Forest. Newt and Tina sighed with relief, then the latter moved to stand up and turned around to face the other student, ready to tell him they had a narrow escape but made a short high pitch scream instead that made Newt jump. He abruptly turned around and found the blond Centaur watching at them calmly not far away. Despite his own panic, he threw himself upon the young girl in a protective gesture. They were both fixing the Centaur who was collectedly approaching them, looking amused by the situation given his half smile. He seemed rather young, not looking older than twenty years old. His azure eyes were gleaming with both intelligence and indulgence._ _

__"It's very chivalrous of you my friend," He said as he noticed the young boy's attempt to protect Tina, "but I think I should be the one being protected." He finished, giving a head gesture in Tina's direction to intimate Newt to look at her._ _

__The latter glanced at Tina, still facing the Centaur cautiously just in case. However he widen his eyes with alarm as he noticed she was taking aim at the calm creature with her wand, looking determined to curse him at any sign of aggression._ _

__"Lower your wand Tina !" He ordered her with urgency and a little roughly as he thought with disdain it was for that exact reason he didn't like Auror. To him, they was just a bunch of careerist hypocrites whose first reaction to something they don't understand was "kill it!". Although his vision of the Auror had something to do with the fact his brother stole what he believed to be the Love of his life but he would never admitted it of course._ _

__"I don't think so Mr Scamander." She replied without moving an inch, fiercely fixing the centaur, "I believe they're not the friendliest creatures so - "_ _

__"You've got nothing to fear from us." The Centaur told her softly, searching for her eyes with his beautiful one, "We'll never lay a hand on an innocent filly. However, I couldn't say the same for you." He spoke to the red-brown boy, "You're not really a colt anymore, you're almost a stallion even. I'll advise you to return to school before the other found out you entered our territory without permission."_ _

__"How - How did he called me ?" Tina said, so taken aback she lowered her wand in the process. Newt didn't listened to her however, longing to ask some question to the creature as he understood that one wasn't menacing. He took a step toward the Centaur with hope._ _

__"Just a few questions Sir if I may, then I promise we'll leave the Forest straight away."_ _

__The Centaur stared curiously at him, thinking with amusement it was the first time someone called him Sir. He liked it though, so he just nodded in agreement and waited for the boy's questions._ _

__"Does Centaurs have a name ? Do you have some specials abilities ?" He asked eagerly. Tina just waited behind him, staring at her surrounding with obvious worry despite what the half man half horse told her._ _

__"We do have name indeed, mine is Firenze. And yes, we're magical Beasts so we also have powers. We're particularly good at healing, divination and astronomy."_ _

__"I notice you define yourself as a Beast but aren't you more of a Being ?" He resumed, mentally noting everything the Centaur named Firenze was telling him to put it in writing later. "I - I mean you're as intelligent as humans so I was wondering..." He added in a rush as Firenze suddenly grimaced with disgust._ _

__"We absolutely don't want to be in the same classification than those Hags or Vampires barbarians. If you want to know why, just ask to the Merpeople. They refused the Ministry's "offer" too." He emphasized sarcastically._ _

__Newt decided he shouldn't insist since it seemed to be a very slippery slope given the very despising tone of the man. He chose to ask a last but very important question to him._ _

__"Why do you hate our kind ?"_ _

__The question caught Tina's attention as well and she found herself waiting for the answer as strongly as Newt. She fixed Firenze expectantly and for the first time, he seemed to be taken off guard which was quite difficult usually. He took some minutes to reply as he considered the very complicated case of the Wizards and Centaurs relationship._ _

__"I don't think our people actually hate yours. There are conflicts, no denying, but if a Wizarding war were to break out, I think we'll help you getting through it eventually. My horde at least."_ _

__"A war ? Did you see a war in the future ?" Tina suddenly spoke with concern, making Newt start for he completely forget about her presence near him. Firenze seemed even more uncertain about his answer than the last one._ _

__"I'm not sure, but you're not unaware of the fact that the Non Magic are currently being torn apart by a global War that could interfere with our world. Also, we Centaurs, have heard about a very dangerous Dark Wizard recently. A former friend of one of your teacher. It's still very cloudy but I have a bad feeling about this."_ _

__Tina and Newt exchanged a perplexe look, both not sure to know what to think about all of this. Then Firenze told them it was time for them to return to the Castle safely. Once inside, Tina turned to Newt awkwardly, looking at the floor to avoid his eyes._ _

__"Well, I still have to find some thyme for my potion. It was nice of you to give me that tracking lesson Mr Scamander." She said with a slight, almost imperceptible wobble in her voice. "Have a nice evening."_ _

__"Uh ?" He just said but she left hurriedly, without leaving him time to reply properly. He followed her with bemused eyes for he didn't expected her to rush like that. Really, he didn't understood why she seemed so upset, everything were fine before her accident with that underwater spell. "You too, Tina..." He mumbled for himself, strangely disappointed with the turn of event._ _


End file.
